The NFL players union has been thrown into further turmoil by the announcement that J.C. Tretter, who many saw as the logical successor to Lloyd Howell Jr as executive director, is stepping away from the organisation at the earliest opportunity.

Although he had only been in office for a couple of years, Howell’s leadership of the NFLPA was been clouded with controversy, with an increasing number of issues that cast doubt on his ability to conduct his role without conflict of interest. While his decision to stand down with immediate effect caught the NFLPA off guard, many believed that it had a ready-made successor in Tretter.

The erstwhile Packers and Browns center served as president of the union between 2020-24 and played a key role in shaping the current collective bargaining agreement, which was eventually signed off five days after he became president. Tretter was also named co-chair of the association’s COVID committee in 2020, representing players in negotiations over revised health and safety protocols that ultimately enabled the season to proceed with no cancelled games.

After serving a second term in the role, Tretter was succeeded by Detroit Lions linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin in 2024, and now says that, further to having no interest in following Howell Jr as executive director, he intends to quit the NFLPA completely.

“Over the last couple days, it has gotten very, very hard for my family and that’s something I can’t deal with,” he told CBS Sports over the weekend. “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 organisation.”

With several of the controversies that dogged Howell Jr’s brief tenure as executive director also falling in the same timeframe as Tretter’s presidency, suggestions that he would make a worthy successor have drawn ire from certain quarters of the membership. Not only did he oversee a change to the NFLPA constitution that altered the election process that resulted in Howell Jr acceding to office, but he was also in place for the events that led to accusations of collusion amid team owners over guaranteed contracts and his own suggestion that players should fake injury while in contract talks if things weren’t going their way. The outcome of the grievances were covered by a controversial confidentiality agreement that meant that association members were not party to the findings. Tretter denies having any direct involvement in those decisions but is being tarred with the same brush as Howell Jr.

“J.C. Tretter must be one hell of a politician,” former player Booger McFarland wrote on Twitter, “Embarrassing by our union and players that he is even a candidate at this point.”

“We’ve gotta be the dumbest Union in all of sports,” former linebacker Will Compton echoed. “Ya — let’s vote for the guy who was in charge of hiring Lloyd Howell. Lets vote for the guy who swept a lot of shit under the rug when NFL owners were colluding to not give out guaranteed contracts. The NFLPA is constantly outmatched and it’s truly our own doing.”

NFLPA head of security Craig Jones also messaged all members of the union questioning Tretter’s suitability, calling him ‘the progenitor of this whole tawdry episode of poseurs, 30 pieces of silver, player leadership manque and avarice’ before seemingly issuing up a prayer: ‘God bless the NFLPA so that it may return to its hallowed annals’.

Tretter, meanwhile, believes that he is being used as a convenient scapegoat amid the turmoil surrounding Howell Jr.

“I’m not resigning because what I’ve been accused of is true,” he said, “I’m not resigning in disgrace. I’m resigning because this has gone too far for me and my family, and I’ve sucked it up for six weeks. I felt like I’ve been kind of left in the wind taking shots for the best of the organisation. … l got to the point this morning where I woke up and realised, like, am going to keep dying on this f-ing sword of, I’ll never, ever be able to do what’s best for me and I will always pick what’s best for the organisation. And, in the end, what’s the organisation done for me? Nothing.

“I’ve been a bullet shield for six weeks for them where everything that’s been controversial just dumps down on me, and I’ve had nothing to f-ing do with it. That’s when I was like, ‘I’m done’.”

The NFLPA’s board of player representatives was expected to meet last night (Sunday) to discuss candidates for the position of interim executive director, according to ESPN.