Lloyd Howell Jr. Resigns Following Questions About Nightclub Expenses
Former NFL Players Association (NFLPA) leader Lloyd Howell Jr. submitted his resignation after an external investigation revealed documents detailing the use of union funds for visits to nightclubs. Expense reports, which were reviewed by an external investigator hired by the union, showed charges for two visits, including a transportation service that amounted to $738.82. The documents, which are expense reports and receipts approved by the union, began to be questioned by sports news sources hours before Howell’s abrupt resignation on Thursday night. One of the receipts, obtained by sources, shows that Howell was picked up at Fort Lauderdale International Airport on November 2, 2023, and taken to a nightclub in Miami Gardens. The shuttle made an additional stop, almost eight hours later, dropping Howell off at his luxury condominium in Sunny Isles Beach. A union finance employee noticed the exorbitant cost of the transportation service and, upon investigating the address in Miami Gardens, discovered that it was Tootsie’s Cabaret, a nightclub that calls itself the largest in the world. The employee reported the receipt to the union’s travel department for a more thorough review. The union’s travel manager sent the documents to compliance for review by the union’s lawyers. More than a year later, Howell and two other union employees visited a nightclub in Atlanta, according to expense reports obtained. During this year’s NFLPA summit, on February 21st, Howell accompanied employees to the Magic City nightclub, where charges of $2,426 were incurred, including cash withdrawals from the club’s ATMs. The expense report indicated that the purpose of the outing to the nightclub was a “Player Engagement Event to support and grow our Union”. An employee who accompanied Howell submitted expense reports for this outing. Howell instructed the employee to submit the expense reports, according to sources. In an expense report from March 23rd, the employee stated: “$736 = This was the final amount I was charged to close the account for both sections set aside for our Player Members. This included Food, Alcoholic Beverages, fees, taxes, and tip.” The documents show that four cash withdrawals were flagged with “alerts”, apparently referring to possible reimbursement violations.Federal labor laws are strict regarding union expenses and reimbursements, with the goal of protecting members whose dues fund operations. Bob Stropp, a veteran labor lawyer, commented that the transportation service reimbursement is “the kind of thing that attracts the attention of the United States Department of Labor”. The NFLPA has its own strict guidelines on reimbursements, especially for entertainment. A former union official indicated that there are no specific exclusions for venues like nightclubs within the union’s “entertainment” category. Howell, who was elected union president in 2024 and received a salary of $3.6 million last year, issued a statement in which he stated that his leadership had become a distraction. His resignation took some members of the NFLPA executive committee by surprise. The resignation came after several recent reports, including one that investigated a sexual discrimination and retaliation lawsuit involving Howell and questioned whether the players who voted for him were aware of the situation.“Our work continues,” declared a source close to lawyer Ronald C. Machen, who was hired by a special committee of players to investigate Howell’s activities.
Source close to Ronald C. Machen
