NFLPA Doc: Financial Actions 'May Be Criminal'
A confidential internal document from the NFL Players Association obtained by ESPN reveals that the union is "now on notice of financial actions that may be criminal" and faces "immediate threats requiring prompt actions" amid an ongoing federal investigation into the organization's finances. The memo, titled "Crisis Management" and drafted by a senior union attorney, was shared with the NFLPA's Executive Committee and player representatives this week, just days after executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. and director of strategy J.C. Tretter both resigned. The document, marked "privileged" and emblazoned with the union logo on each page, details what it describes as the biggest crisis in the union's 68-year history and warns that the government "could quickly ramp up and expand scope of existing DOJ criminal investigation."
The federal investigation centers on potential misuse of funds and self-enrichment by union officials, with particular focus on financial dealings involving OneTeam Partners, a $2 billion group-licensing firm co-founded by the NFLPA and Major League Baseball Players Association in 2019 to monetize athletes' name, image and likeness rights. According to ESPN's previous reporting, the FBI has been investigating OneTeam Partners since May, with federal agents reaching out to baseball players about their knowledge of the company's financial dealings. The crisis management document indicates the union faces a "leadership vacuum" and urges player representatives to take "prudent and definitive actions" to avoid Justice Department-ordered, court-supervised oversight of the NFLPA. The memo identifies five candidates for interim executive director as part of a "triage plan," including four former NFL players, marking a potential return to player leadership that hasn't occurred since Gene Upshaw's tenure ended in 2008.
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