NFLPA Drama Gets Spicier: Lawyer Who Exposed FBI Probe Gets the Boot

Well, well, well. Just when you thought the NFLPA couldn’t get any messier, they’ve gone and served up another heaping plate of organizational chaos. Because apparently, nothing says “professional union management” quite like putting your own lawyer on paid leave right after she helped expose financial shenanigans that caught the FBI’s attention.

The NFLPA’s Latest Power Move Backfires Spectacularly

So here’s what went down: Heather McPhee, the NFLPA’s associate general counsel since 2009, found herself on the wrong end of a pink slip—well, more like a temporary timeout—this past Tuesday. The union brass decided she needed some “paid administrative leave” after multiple employees filed complaints about her conduct.

Now, before you start thinking McPhee was caught doing something truly scandalous, let’s pump the brakes. The allegations against her? Apparently, she had the audacity to not follow her supervisor’s directions, allegedly bullied some colleagues, and—here’s the kicker—disrupted the union’s work environment.

You know what really disrupts a work environment? Having the FBI knock on your door because someone in your organization might be playing fast and loose with union funds. But hey, what do I know?

When Whistleblowing Meets Workplace Politics

Here’s where this story gets absolutely delicious. McPhee wasn’t just any lawyer sitting quietly in her office, billing hours and keeping her head down. Oh no, she was the one who helped blow the whistle on some seriously questionable financial dealings between the NFLPA and OneTeam Partners—their $2 billion licensing company.

The timing here is so perfect it almost writes itself. McPhee raises concerns about potential financial improprieties, helps trigger a federal investigation, and suddenly she’s the problem employee who needs to be shown the door? Come on, NFLPA, even soap opera writers would call that plot twist too obvious.

The OneTeam Partners Rabbit Hole

Let’s talk about OneTeam Partners for a hot minute, because this is where things get really interesting. This licensing company is 44.5% owned by the NFLPA, and McPhee had some serious concerns about how board members—including now-former executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. and MLBPA‘s Tony Clark—were potentially allocating equity shares to themselves.

McPhee wrote multiple memos suggesting the NFLPA could be in legal hot water over OneTeam’s bonus plan for board members. She pushed for investigations, urged transparency, and basically did what any competent lawyer would do when they smell something fishy. And for her troubles? She got told to back off “with the threat of employment discipline.”

Lloyd Howell’s Strip Club Adventures Come Full Circle

Speaking of Lloyd Howell, remember him? The guy who thought union dues were his personal entertainment fund for strip club visits? Yeah, that Lloyd Howell. He resigned in July after ESPN exposed his creative use of union funds and his side consulting gig with a company that could buy stakes in NFL teams.

McPhee was reportedly one of Howell‘s biggest critics within the NFLPA headquarters. Funny how the person calling out questionable behavior suddenly becomes the “disruptive” employee once the heat gets turned up.

The Retaliation Smells Stronger Than a Locker Room

Here’s what really stinks about this whole situation: McPhee had already retained legal counsel for a potential whistleblower claim. And get this—she hired the same lawyer who secured a $377 million settlement in a whistleblower case against Howell’s previous employer, Booz Allen Hamilton.

That’s not just hiring a lawyer; that’s hiring a lawyer who knows exactly how to make your former boss’s life very, very expensive.

The NFLPA better have some rock-solid documentation to prove this isn’t retaliation, because the optics here are about as bad as they get. When you put someone on leave right after they expose potential wrongdoing, it doesn’t exactly scream “legitimate workplace concerns.”

Matt Curtin’s Convenient Complaint

One of the people filing complaints against McPhee was Matt Curtin, head of NFL Players Inc. and—surprise, surprise—a member of the OneTeam board. The same OneTeam that McPhee was raising red flags about.

Curtin was hired by Howell and was even in the running for interim executive director before things got too hot to handle. Nothing suspicious about a OneTeam board member filing complaints against the lawyer who was questioning OneTeam’s practices. Nothing at all.

The FBI Investigation Continues

While the NFLPA tries to clean house and manage its PR nightmare, that little FBI investigation isn’t going anywhere. Multiple football and baseball players have been contacted by federal agents, and the scope of this criminal investigation remains unknown.

McPhee may not have official whistleblower status, but she’s sitting on information that could make a lot of people very uncomfortable. And now that she’s been pushed aside, she’s probably feeling pretty motivated to share that information with whoever will listen.

What This Really Means for Player Representation

Here’s the thing that should really tick off NFL players: while their union is busy playing internal politics and trying to silence the people asking tough questions, actual player interests are getting lost in the shuffle.

The NFLPA is supposed to be fighting for player rights, negotiating better conditions, and making sure union dues are spent responsibly. Instead, they’re dealing with FBI investigations, strip club receipts, and now workplace retaliation claims.

Players pay dues to be represented by competent professionals, not to fund whatever this circus has become.

The Legal Storm That’s Coming

When (not if) McPhee decides to sue, this whole mess is going to get aired out in public in ways that will make the current headlines look tame. Discovery is going to be an absolute goldmine of embarrassing details, financial records, and internal communications that the NFLPA probably wishes would stay buried forever.

The union can paint her as a disgruntled employee all they want, but the timeline doesn’t lie. She raised legitimate concerns about financial practices, helped expose potential wrongdoing, and suddenly found herself persona non grata.

The New Sheriff in Town

David White, the new interim executive director and former SAG-AFTRA leader, has inherited an absolute disaster. The guy probably thought he was stepping into a challenging but manageable situation, only to find himself managing an organization that’s hemorrhaging credibility faster than a blown coverage in the secondary.

White’s going to have his work cut out for him trying to rebuild trust while also dealing with ongoing federal investigations and potential lawsuits from his own former employees.

The NFLPA has managed to turn what should have been a straightforward organizational cleanup into a masterclass in how not to handle internal problems. They’ve created a situation where the person who tried to protect the organization is now positioned to be their biggest legal threat.