NFL Players Association Executive Director Lloyd Howell resigned from his position on Thursday after an outside investigator hired by the union received documents showing he charged the union for two visits to strip clubs, according to a report by ESPN.
The expenses reportedly included a $738.82 car service that took him from the airport to one of the clubs.
After a union finance worker noticed the car service’s exorbitant cost, the employee searched online for the Miami Gardens, Florida address, discovering it was Tootsie’s Cabaret, which bills itself as the world’s largest strip club.
Howell was elected union president in 2024 and was paid $3.6 million last year. He has lived in Miami since 2019; records obtained by ESPN show he paid $6.8 million in September 2019 for a three-bedroom condominium in the city.
Howell released a statement regarding his resignation through the Players Association’s Twitter/X account:
“Two years ago, I accepted the role of Executive Director of the NFLPA because I believe deeply in the mission of this union and the power of collective action to drive positive change for the players of America’s most popular sport. Our members deserve a union that will fight relentlessly for their health, safety, financial futures, and long-term well-being. My priority has been to lead that fight by serving this union with focus and dedication.
It’s clear that my leadership has become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day. For this reason, I have informed the NFLPA Executive Committee that I am stepping down as Executive Director of the NFLPA and Chairman of the Board of NFL Players effective immediately. I hope this will allow the NFLPA to maintain its focus on its player members ahead of the upcoming season.
I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish at the NFLPA over the past two years. I will be rooting for the players from the sidelines as loud as ever and I know the NFLPA will continue to ensure that players remain firmly at the center of football’s future."
Howell’s resignation was made on his own and reportedly surprised some members of the NFLPA’s executive committee.
The resignation came after several recent reports from ESPN and the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast that included a sexual discrimination and retaliation lawsuit that involved Howell and that the FBI is investigating the financial dealings of the union and the MLB Players Association related to a multibillion-dollar group-licensing firm.
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