NFLPA exposed as beyond repair with JC Tretter's election as executive director

The search for the NFL Players Association executive director ended up not being much of a search at all.

On Tuesday, NFLPA player representatives elected JC Tretter as the next executive director, days after re-electing Jalen Reeves-Maybin to a second term as president. Tretter takes over for interim director David White, ending a search that began following the resignation of former director Lloyd Howell in July 2025 after multiple scandals, including the revelation of a confidentiality agreement with the NFL regarding a collusion case, his work as a paid-consultant for a group seeking NFL ownership and charges he filed to the union for "strip club expenses."

Tretter served as chief strategy officer at the time and resigned three days following Howell's resignation.

At the time, Tretter wrote in a statement, "Over the last couple of days, it has gotten, very, very hard for my family. And that's something I can't deal with.

"So, the short bullet points are: I have no interest in being [executive director]. I have no interest in being considered. I've let the executive committee know that. I'm also going to leave the NFLPA in the coming days because I don't have anything left to give the organization."

NFLPA executive director vote a poor look after former head Lloyd Howell's scandal-filled tenure

Tretter's hiring as executive director raises several questions, most notably what changed in the eight months since adamantly rejecting the notion of being shortlisted for the role.

It also doesn't inspire confidence in the process as a whole. Last week, ESPN's Kalyn Kahler and Don Van Natta Jr. wrote about growing "tension" in the lead-up to Tuesday's vote.

"An unknown number of NFLPA staffers sent an anonymous letter to union general counsel," Kahler and Van Natta wrote, "saying that Tretter is close to another union executive they named who they say has been the subject of multiple human resources complains but faced no disciplinary action.

"They fear Tretter's 'anticipated appointment as executive director' would '[exacerbate a] hostile work environment."

It would seem that after overseeing the disastrous prior vote that made Howell executive director, plus other "costly errors," as noted by Kahler, such as comments about running backs faking injuries, the NFLPA could do better.

It's curious why out of the over 300 initial candidates, Tretter was selected. But maybe it isn't. Pablo Torre, whose reporting helped lead to Howell's resignation, wrote on social media Tuesday morning, "The only ex-player applicant they deemed a finalist is the guy who helped install Jalen Reeves-Maybin."