It’s a question that is currently being asked throughout the league, for various reasons.
Who is Lloyd Howell?
He went from having no connection whatsoever to the entire NFL ecosystem to being the next executive director of the NFL Players Association. I’d never heard of him. Most people connected to the league had never heard of him.
While it doesn’t mean he won’t be a great union boss, it does mean that he walks through the door with no one knowing who he is or, perhaps more importantly, how or why he got the job.
Let’s start there. Did he apply for the job? Was he approached by someone from the union or the search firm the union hired? Who made the first communication that activated Howell’s candidacy? How did anyone even become aware that he would be a suitable candidate?
His background seems far closer to Thurston Howell than Jimmy Hoffa. Lloyd Howell spent 34 years with Booz Allen Hamilton, serving most recently as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. He retired from the company on December 31, 2022.
So what is Booz Allen Hamilton? A publicly-traded company, it described itself as follows in the press release announcing Howell’s retirement: “For more than 100 years, military, government, and business leaders have turned to Booz Allen Hamilton to solve their most complex problems. As a consulting firm with experts in analytics, digital solutions, engineering, and cyber, we help organizations transform. We are a key partner on some of the most innovative programs for governments worldwide and trusted by its most sensitive agencies. We work shoulder-to-shoulder with clients, using a mission-first approach to choose the right strategy and technology to help them realize their vision.”
The company has its global headquarters in McLean, Virginia, and it employed nearly 29,300 people globally as of June 30, 2022. It had revenue of $8.4 billion for the 12 months ending on March 31, 2022.
It sounds impressive, but it apparently has nothing to do with the NFL or any sport. It’s fair to wonder, then, what equipped Howell in his 34 years with Booz Allen Hamilton to be the best person to understand and to advance the full range of relevant issues for NFL players and to serve as their primary advocate in the constant push-and-pull with billionaires?
It’s also fair to wonder why he even wanted the job. What drew him to this new challenge, after spending 34 years in jobs that had nothing to do with understanding the business realities of the NFL, the pressure points in Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations, and everything else that goes into meeting the league in toe-to-toe tussles over the delicate balance between management and player rights?
We’ll find out more today, when Howell meets the media for the first time at 3:00 p.m. ET. Regardless of the number of answers he provides at that time, there will be many more questions that arise as we all get acquainted with the man who will soon have one of the most important jobs in the entire sport.
