Podcast Summary:
It Could Happen Here
Episode: How to Break a Union From the Inside: The NFL Players Association, Pt. 2
Date: April 7, 2026
Host: Mia Wong (Cool Zone Media)
Guest: Charles McDonald (Yahoo Sports journalist)
Episode Overview
This episode continues a deep dive into the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), focusing on recent decades and especially the 2020s. The discussion spotlights how NFL ownership and captured union leadership have systematically undermined player interests, fostered collusion, and perpetuated anti-labor practices—often betraying the union’s original purpose. With evidence of corruption, collusion, and exclusionary practices surfacing, hosts dissect how the current union regime seems complicit with management, and explore why internal reform is so difficult, but possible.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Hidden Collusion Against Players ([02:06]–[05:41])
- Mia introduces the shocking coverup by NFLPA leadership: The union hid a judge’s report which proved NFL teams were colluding to suppress player wages—a classic anti-trust violation.
- “I cannot imagine just literally having evidence in your hand that the owners are colluding against your members—and you’re just hiding the report, dude.” (Mia, [03:49])
- McDonald contextualizes the significance: Even losing arbitration, this evidence should’ve allowed the union to mount public pressure, but instead, they cowered or colluded.
2. The Lamar Jackson Fiasco and the Collusion Mechanism ([05:41]–[14:43])
- Lamar Jackson’s historic market standoff: Despite his MVP status and transformative play, Jackson found no suitors when he was (technically) allowed to seek free agency—an “unprecedented” shutout, widely seen as collusion to resist awarding guaranteed contracts.
- “A first-ballot Hall of Famer was on the market in his prime… and nobody talked to him about a contract except the team that owned the rights of first refusal. That’s where I was like, something is so obviously not right here.” (Charles, [14:27])
- Deshaun Watson’s fully guaranteed deal as a collusion flashpoint: The outrage wasn’t over Watson’s background, but that it set a precedent for guaranteed contracts.
- Franchise tag as anti-labor: The restrictive tag system, especially “non-exclusive” tags, gives management huge leverage—blocking player mobility and market-setting deals.
- Union’s inaction amid damning evidence: Pablo Torre's reporting proved owners colluded, yet union leaders “hid this from the union, bro”—fueling speculation about corruption and kickbacks. ([15:07]-[16:44])
3. Direct Corruption by Union Leaders ([16:44]–[21:57])
- Embezzlement and self-dealing: Union leaders (Lloyd Howell, Tony White, J.C. Tretter) were found siphoning millions from union funds, in one case creating cushy jobs for themselves.
- “They were part of a small group that was siphoning money away from union funds to line their own pockets. That is verified. They’ve been sued for that.” (Charles, [20:07])
- Former players losing ground: After legendary executive Gene Upshaw passed away, subsequent leadership (not from player backgrounds) became more management-aligned.
- Entrenching the regime: J.C. Tretter, a former player, was briefly out after saying he was “done” with leadership—only to return as executive director, unopposed, under murky circumstances. ([22:11]-[24:57])
4. Manipulating Eligibility to Control Elections ([25:02]–[29:41])
- Eligibility shenanigans with Jalen Reeves-Maybin: Despite being out of the league (which should disqualify him from union office), Reeves-Maybin was signed to a “token” contract by the Bears—widely believed to be at the behest of ownership to maintain a pliant president.
- “The Chicago Bears signed Jalen Reaves Maybin this fall… that resets his clock to be president of the union!” (Charles, [27:41])
- Elections with no real choice: Leadership vacancies are filled with carefully selected (or default) candidates, effectively running unopposed, maintaining the power structure.
5. Consequences for Labor, Football, and Society ([31:47]–[37:18])
- Diminished gains and long-term harm: The union exchanged massive concessions—extra regular games, diminished revenue share—for little return, harming the “most important position in sports.”
- Deferred pain for players: Players face debilitating injuries and poverty after short careers—often after being funneled from disadvantaged upbringings.
- “These are like 45, 50-year-old men that can’t walk without assistance… they walk around and they’re forgetting what they just turned this corner to do.” (Charles, [32:27])
- Football’s role in American inequality: The NFL acts as both an economic engine and a poverty draft, disproportionately extracting value from Black men.
- “Football is a structural part of the entire American economy…half the educational system is designed to funnel people into this sport so these people can make fucking money off it.” (Mia, [33:31])
6. Why Reform is So Difficult ([37:46]–[44:00])
- Union election structure works against democracy: Most members are disengaged or uninformed, allowing entrenched cliques to maintain control with low-turnout votes.
- Retaliation and intimidation: Attempts by whistleblowers and reformers are met with terminations.
- “They fired him for that. Like the union fired this security guy who’d been working since Gene Upshaw was there…” (Charles, [41:00])
- Structural perpetuity: NFL needs the NFLPA for legal reasons, so the union will always exist as a legal fiction, removing the last lever for workers to discipline failed leadership.
7. Larger Lessons and Hope for Reform ([46:55]–[51:20])
- Why the left and broader public must care: Football’s scandals reflect deeper truths about American exploitation, racism, and labor politics.
- Reform is possible: Examples like the UAW’s recent reform movement show entrenched cliques can sometimes be toppled by collective organizing from below.
- “Anyone can do this. This is not something that requires an incredibly specialized skillset. You can just do it… And then one day they win.” (Mia, [49:35])
- Football as a true microcosm: The trajectory from organizing against training camp exploitation to today’s co-opted regime is a lesson for every labor struggle.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- On NFLPA leadership hiding evidence of collusion:
- “Even if you lose the arbitration, the fact that a judge wrote in a legal document that…Roger Goodell and the 32 owners were colluding…you should take your megaphone to the top of the tallest mountain in the world and talk about this.”
(Charles, [04:44])
- “Even if you lose the arbitration, the fact that a judge wrote in a legal document that…Roger Goodell and the 32 owners were colluding…you should take your megaphone to the top of the tallest mountain in the world and talk about this.”
- On Lamar Jackson’s impact:
- “His influence on the NFL is so strong that we don’t do the ‘Black quarterback’ talking points anymore… he’s such an important figure for this era… culturally, in society, for the chances that Black men can get to play a position they were deemed not smart enough to play.”
(Charles, [12:43])
- “His influence on the NFL is so strong that we don’t do the ‘Black quarterback’ talking points anymore… he’s such an important figure for this era… culturally, in society, for the chances that Black men can get to play a position they were deemed not smart enough to play.”
- On union corruption:
- “They were part of a small group that was siphoning money away from union funds to line their own pockets. That is verified.”
(Charles, [20:07])
- “They were part of a small group that was siphoning money away from union funds to line their own pockets. That is verified.”
- On structural extraction and football as poverty draft:
- “It’s the actual poverty draft. It hits way, way, way more people than the military does. Football is a structural part of the entire American economy.”
(Mia, [33:31])
- “It’s the actual poverty draft. It hits way, way, way more people than the military does. Football is a structural part of the entire American economy.”
- On the need for left to care about sports labor:
- “I would implore people…don’t be the ‘who cares about sports’ person. Whether you know about it, sports is interacting and directly impacting your life in this country every single day.”
(Charles, [45:53])
- “I would implore people…don’t be the ‘who cares about sports’ person. Whether you know about it, sports is interacting and directly impacting your life in this country every single day.”
- On organizing hope:
- “Anyone can do this. This is not something that requires an incredibly specialized skill set. You can just do it… and then one day they win.”
(Mia, [49:35])
- “Anyone can do this. This is not something that requires an incredibly specialized skill set. You can just do it… and then one day they win.”
Important Segment Timestamps
| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | [02:06] | Introduction to union’s collusion cover-up and arbitration evidence | | [05:41] | The Lamar Jackson free agency saga and anti-labor franchise tag rules | | [16:44] | Details on union leaders’ corruption and embezzlement | | [22:11] | J.C. Tretter’s return to leadership via stage-managed election | | [25:02] | The Bears' signing of Jalen Reeves-Maybin to reset his union eligibility clock | | [32:27] | Consequences for former players and the poverty draft | | [37:46] | Why it’s so hard to defeat entrenched union cliques | | [46:55] | Why caring about football and sports labor matters for the left and society | | [49:35] | Organizing hope from the UAW reform experience | | [51:20] | Football’s labor struggle roots and the importance of bottom-up organizing |
Tone & Style
- Raw, frustrated, and deeply informed.
- Pulls few punches about institutional rot, both in the union and in American society.
- Reflective, angry, but ultimately offers hope for reform through collective action.
- Appeals to both sports fans and labor movement observers.
Conclusion
The episode delivers a powerful narrative connecting the NFLPA’s internal rot to broader themes of labor betrayal, systemic racism, and the difficulties of reform in entrenched institutions. Via detailed anecdotes and hard-hitting analysis, it argues that what has unfolded inside the NFLPA is both a cautionary tale and a call to action for anyone interested in labor, social justice, or the future of American sports—and that change is daunting, but possible.