Lloyd Howell Jr. and His Conflicts of Interest in the NFL
The Executive Director of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), Lloyd Howell Jr., is at the center of controversy due to his part-time, paid consulting work for The Carlyle Group. This firm is part of a select group of private equity firms approved by the league, seeking minority stakes in NFL franchises. This situation has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest. Howell joined The Carlyle Group in March 2023, three months before being named the primary player representative in relations with the league. In August of the same year, the NFL approved The Carlyle Group and other private equity firms to invest in minority stakes of franchises, with a limit of 10%. According to sources, a union lawyer suggested to Howell that he resign from his position at The Carlyle Group to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, in case the firm acquired a stake in an NFL franchise. However, Howell decided not to leave his position at the firm.Howell has not been contacted for comment and the NFLPA has not issued a statement. For its part, a spokesperson for The Carlyle Group stated that Howell had disclosed his work at the NFLPA to the firm. In addition, she assured that Howell has not had any involvement in the firm’s internal affairs related to the NFL approval process or in its investment activities linked to the league. “He did not have access to information about the NFL and Carlyle process beyond public reports due to Carlyle’s strict information barriers,” stated Kristen Ashton, a spokesperson for the firm. Union observers and executives find it surprising that Howell continues to work at The Carlyle Group while leading the NFLPA, which paid him $3.4 million last year. Jim Quinn, a former NFLPA legal counsel, noted that his predecessors, Gene Upshaw and DeMaurice Smith, were not allowed to receive outside income. In recent weeks, Howell has been the subject of increased scrutiny on multiple fronts. Recently, the union reached a confidentiality agreement with the NFL to keep secret the details of a January arbitration ruling. Arbitrator Christopher Droney determined that there was insufficient evidence of collusion by the owners after the signing of Deshaun Watson’s contract. However, Droney concluded that the NFLPA demonstrated that Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league’s legal counsel, Jeff Pash, urged the owners to restrict the guaranteed money in the players’ contracts. Howell informed the players about the decision, but did not provide details or copies of the report. The confidentiality agreement prevented the players from knowing the details of the ruling until the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out” published the full referee report on June 24. Two weeks after the publication of the report, the union decided to appeal the arbitrator’s decision to a three-person panel. Sources also reported that the union hired Ronald C. Machen of the law firm Wilmer Hale to work with a special committee of players and review Howell’s activities as executive director. The investigation led by Machen was prompted by reports about the FBI and federal prosecutors’ investigation into the union’s financial affairs related to OneTeam Partners, a multi-million dollar group licensing firm. Howell and MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark are on the board of directors of OneTeam. Before joining the NFLPA, Howell worked for 34 years at the technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, where he was CFO from 2016 to 2022. The firm paid a $377 million fine to settle a federal government whistleblower lawsuit. The settlement was announced in July 2023, a month after the NFLPA executive committee hired Howell. In addition to his part-time work at The Carlyle Group, Howell serves on three boards of directors: GE HealthCare, Moody’s, and ManTech. According to financial documents, Howell received $360,038 in cash and stock from Moody’s, while GE HealthCare paid him $324,934 in cash and stock. ManTech has been privately held since its acquisition by Carlyle in 2022. A source with knowledge of the matter said that the NFLPA’s executive committee was aware that Howell was on outside boards and worked for The Carlyle Group. Quinn also noted that paid positions on boards of directors can raise conflicts. “Contractually, and by common sense, you probably wouldn’t be on other boards to the extent that they could have any relationship with the league,” he said.“It would be a scandalous conflict for the head of a labor union to have interests in a third party that is aligned with the NFL.”
Jim Quinn, former legal counsel for the NFLPA
