NFL Players Association chief strategy officer JC Tretter, a former president of the union, is resigning in the aftermath of executive director Lloyd Howell’s resignation last week.
“Over the last couple days, it has gotten very, very hard for my family, and that’s something I can’t deal with,” Tretter told CBS Sports, which first reported the news.
A source told Front Office Sports that Tretter’s decision to resign—and the way he shared the news—was his alone, insinuating that he was not pushed out by the NFLPA.
“I have no interest in being [executive director]. I have no interest in being considered; I’ve let the executive committee know that,” Tretter told CBS Sports. “I’m also going to leave the NFLPA in the coming days because I don’t have anything left to give the organization.”
Howell announced he was stepping down late Thursday night, after three outlets—ESPN, the podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out, and ProFootballTalk—had broken a steady stream of stories about him in recent weeks. FOS compiled the most damning details in those reports here. Both Howell and Tretter were first implicated in unearthed findings from the NFL collusion lawsuit.
Tretter, a former offensive lineman who played for the Packers and Browns, retired in 2022. He served as NFLPA president from 2020 to 2024. Howell, who was hired in 2023, created the chief strategy officer that Tretter assumed after his most recent term as president ended; he was unable to run for re-election since he was no longer on an active NFL roster.
On Sunday, Tretter, in his interview with CBS Sports, refuted the idea that he was vying to be the NFLPA’s next executive director, who will have several multi-billion-dollar questions and challenges to face.
“I want to get my story out there, and I don’t want it to look like this was sour grapes or I didn’t get the job and I wanted the job,” he said. “All I want to do is tell my story and then go be with my family.”
Tretter said that he realized he “fell in love with the idea” of what the NFLPA could be. “Over the last six weeks, I’ve realized what this place is, and the delta between those two things,” he said. “And I can’t walk into the building anymore, seeing and understanding what I see and understand now.”
The NFLPA is still deciding on an interim executive director, and board members will continue to meet in the coming days, a source said. The NFLPA will also launch a comprehensive search for a new full-time executive director. The current labor agreement expires in March 2031.
A spokesperson for the NFLPA declined to comment when reached by FOS.
