NFL Players' Union Top Cop Tells All | PTFO

TL;DR

Craig Jones, the NFLPA's fired head of security, exposes how JC Treader and Lloyd Howell ran a corrupt regime that buried a billion-dollar union's collusion ruling.

Key Points

• 1.Craig Jones worked as the NFLPA's lead security officer for nearly 17 years before being terminated February 13, 2026. He was fired over three emails he sent questioning leadership, despite stellar reviews throughout his entire tenure.
• 2.Lloyd Howell resigned as NFLPA executive director amid a corruption scandal in July 2025. His strip club expense reports were part of a larger ongoing federal investigation, and JC Treader resigned just three days later.
• 3.JC Treader engineered a constitutional amendment eliminating the 30-day vetting window for executive director candidates. This allowed Lloyd Howell — former CFO of Booz Allen with no union or sports experience — to be installed without proper player scrutiny.
• 4.Howell carried massive red flags: he was named in a $377 million federal procurement fraud settlement at Booz Allen and settled a 2015 sexual discrimination lawsuit. Despite this, JC Treader's executive committee made him a finalist and celebrated his election.
• 5.A secret 61-page collusion ruling found the NFL, with Commissioner Goodell's blessing, encouraged 32 teams to reduce guaranteed contracts for veteran players at the March 2022 owners meeting. The ruling covered star quarterbacks Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, and Russell Wilson.
• 6.Howell and Treader buried the collusion ruling under a secret confidentiality agreement with the NFL. A retired federal judge arbitrated the case and included private texts, emails, and closed-door testimony from eight billionaire owners and Roger Goodell.
• 7.Howell held a simultaneous part-time consulting role at the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm on the NFL's approved list for buying franchise stakes — a direct conflict of interest while leading the players' union against the league.
• 8.Longtime NFLPA attorney Heather McIlwain was terminated after repeatedly flagging alleged self-dealing by executives in One Team Partners, the union's for-profit NIL company now under FBI investigation. She has since sued the NFLPA in federal court alleging obstruction of a DOJ witness.
• 9.Anonymous NFLPA staffers sent a letter less than two weeks before filming stating JC Treader is the widely anticipated pick for the next executive director, and that multiple written complaints have been filed against Players Inc. president Matt Curtain, who was handpicked by Howell.
• 10.Craig Jones compared himself to Frank Wills, the security guard who discovered the Watergate break-in. He is pursuing a wrongful termination lawsuit and read his goodbye email to all NFLPA staff, which quoted Muhammad Ali: 'The deeper the pressure, the greater the poise.'