One former Green Bay Packers star is walking away from his position within the NFL. Recent reports have caused a massive fallout within one of the league’s most important positions.
“I Can’t Deal With It” Former Packers Star Abruptly Quits Job With NFL, Releases Shocking Statement
One of JC Tretter’s greatest strengths is his ability to accept criticism. On the field, defensive linemen didn’t like him. In negotiations, he likely didn’t appeal to NFL owners:
To hear him and others inside the NFL Players Association tell it, plenty of people within the union weren’t big fans of his, either. That was fine with him until this weekend. Now, he’s had enough.
The former NFLPA president, who has served as chief strategy officer for the players’ union since October, told CBS Sports on Sunday that he will not only be excluding himself from the running as interim executive director of the union, he will no longer remain with the NFLPA as of this 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 said. “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 organization.
“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. All I want to do is tell my story and then go be with my family.”
Lloyd Howell resigned as NF LPA executive director late Thursday night. Howell had been installed two years ago as a leader who would hopefully see the union through its next collective bargaining agreement. Tretter was a leader in that hiring search. Howell’s resignation came amid numerous controversies that began with a leaked collusion grievance, continued with a potential conflict of interest and concluded — at least for now — with filed expense reports for two strip club trips.
Members of the NFLPA’s executive committee had interest in Tretter taking over as interim executive director for the next several months. Some in the media speculated Tretter always wanted that job, and it is possible that he was mere days from getting it. However, he insists there was never a Machiavellian plot to take over the union and run it as he saw fit.
“I love the guys, and that’s why I’ve done what I’ve done for the last six years is because I love what they do and who they are and the mission of the organization,” Tretter said. “And I think what I realized this morning when I woke up — after finally getting more than like two hours of sleep — is that I fell in love with the idea of what this place could be. And over the last six weeks, I’ve realized what this place is, and the delta between those two things.
“And I can’t walk into the building anymore, seeing and understanding what I see and understand now.”
Tretter sought to address what he considers to be “mistruths” about him and his motivations during his years with the union. After being quiet for weeks, Tretter wanted his side of the story out there as he leaves a union he spent his adult life working to make better.
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