The enhanced scrutiny focused on Lloyd Howell Jr.’s tenure as the NFL Players Association’s executive director isn’t going away, even after he resigned from the position.
ESPN reported Friday afternoon that an union-hired outside investigation into Howell found he submitted expense reports charging the union for two visits to strip clubs.
One report from November 2023 showed a charge of more than $700 for a car service that took Howell from Fort Lauderdale Airport to Tootsie’s Cabaret – ‘the world’s largest strip club spanning over 76,000 square feet,’ according to its website – in Miami Gardens around 10:30 p.m.
Howell reportedly hired the driver to ‘wait seven hours outside’ before taking Howell back home to Sunny Isles Beach at 6 a.m., according to a receipt, as reported by ESPN.
Earlier this year, Howell again traveled to a strip club on the union’s dime, ESPN reported.
This time, he and two employees visited Magic City in Atlanta as part of what the expense report called a ‘Player Engagement Event.’ He and the employees spent a reported $2,426 that night ‘including cash withdrawals, ranging from $200 to $525, from a club ATM,’ according to ESPN.
One expense report requested a reimbursement of $736 for charges for ‘secluded sections for our Player Members’ – ESPN noted that the NFLPA visitors used two ‘VIP rooms’ at Magic City – as well as food and alcoholic beverages. The names of the ‘Player Members’ were kept off the report.
A former union employee reportedly told ESPN that strip clubs or other venues are not explicitly excluded from reimbursements.
‘But I don’t think anyone in their right mind would think that is an optically good scenario,’ the employee went on to say.
Howell’s strip club activities – and tendency to charge the company card for it – are reportedly not a new phenomenon.
ESPN also reported that Howell had been investigated for a similar incident while at his prior employer, technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, in 2015.
The sports media company wrote that Howell attended a strip club in New York City that year with a senior vice president of the company. When the senior VP submitted an expense report seeking reimbursement for the ‘thousands of dollars’ the two had spent at the club, Booz Allen fired the VP and reprimanded Howell.
The company promoted Howell to its chief financial officer position the following year.
Howell resigned from his position as the executive director of the NFLPA Wednesday night after just over two years serving in the role.
He said in a statement, ‘It’s clear that my leadership has become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day. For this reason, I have informed the NFLPA Executive Committee that I am stepping down as Executive Director of the NFLPA and Chairman of the Board of NFL Players effective immediately.
‘I hope this will allow the NFLPA to maintain its focus on its player members ahead of the upcoming season.’