Don Van Natta Jr.

A Major NFLPA Fumble Podcast Episode · The Varsity · 07/27/2025 · 50m

New pod: @dvnjr.bsky.social on all the chaos at the NFL Players Association these days.

What does Lloyd Howell's resignation mean for the league's 18-game expansion hopes?

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

Hey BlueSky, follow the great @dvnjr.bsky.social — his reporting is one of the few ways to know what really goes on in professional sports.

Filed to ESPN: Feds probing NFLPA actions that ‘may be criminal,’ according to document obtained by ESPN

With @kalynkahler.bsky.social

t.co/yERkuYlvWU

Enjoyed this wide-ranging conversation with @ourand.bsky.social about the chaos inside the NFL Players Association and the union’s path beyond Lloyd Howell Jr.

Filed to ESPN: Feds probing NFLPA actions that ‘may be criminal,’ according to document obtained by ESPN

With @kalynkahler.bsky.social

t.co/yERkuYlvWU

"If he failed, their process failed": Inside the NFLPA meltdown Players are looking to learn from the mistakes that led them to hire ex-NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell Jr.

"What happens when you close off the process to them? You don't get diversity of ideas ... And then you get caught up with a guy like Lloyd Howell, who has never spent one day in his life helping workers."

Great story by @dvnjr.bsky.social and @kalynkahler.bsky.social

www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/...

Filed to ESPN: “If he failed, their process failed”: Inside the NFLPA meltdown

With @kalynkahler.bsky.social

t.co/aFBs5TEc3S

Ex-NFLPA boss' strip club expenses face scrutiny Former NFL Players Association leader Lloyd Howell Jr. resigned after an outside investigator hired by the union received documents this week showing he charged the union for two visits to strip clubs...

Actual "Oh my god...." out loud. The audacity to think your strip club expense report is not only going to get reimbursed but also won't get you fired! Incredible stuff from Lloyd Howell's run as NFLPA leader.

via @dvnjr.bsky.social + @kalynkahler.bsky.social:

This is an absolutely WILD story. The conflict of interest is so clear and extreme that to have the whatever you call it to continue is actually quite amazing.

Belichick pushes back on Kraft: Pats job 'big risk' On the heels of comments by Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick says he was the one who took the risk to join the Patriots in 1999.

Filed to ESPN: Belichick pushes back on Kraft: Pats job was “big risk” with “many internal obstacles” www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/...

Source: NFLPA boss works for NFL-interested firm Lloyd Howell Jr. joined the firm in March 2023, three months before the NFLPA hired him to be the players' chief representative in relations with the league.

Latest for ESPN: NFLPA head Lloyd Howell Jr. also works for a private equity firm approved to invest in NFL.

Sources say union lawyer asked Howell to consider resigning from The Carlyle Group; he refused.

With @kalynkahler.bsky.social

www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/...

Source: NFLPA boss works for NFL-interested firm Lloyd Howell Jr. joined the firm in March 2023, three months before the NFLPA hired him to be the players' chief representative in relations with the league.

Latest for ESPN: NFLPA head Lloyd Howell Jr. also works for a private equity firm approved to invest in NFL.

Sources say union lawyer asked Howell to consider resigning from The Carlyle Group; he refused.

With @kalynkahler.bsky.social

www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/...

Sources: NFLPA, NFL concealed collusion findings In wake of revelations, NFLPA now says it will appeal the Jan. 14 arbitration ruling.

Latest for ESPN: Sources: NFL, NFLPA agree to keep collusion ruling’s details from players.

With @kalynkahler.bsky.social

www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/...

Moneyball Meets the F.B.I. Podcast Episode · The Varsity · 06/04/2025 · 51m

New pod: An all baseball edition. @dvnjr.bsky.social on:

* The FBI's investigation into OneTeam Partners.
* MLB's coming work stoppage.
* Rob Manfred's legacy.
* Pete Rose.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...

YouTube video by SABRvideos SABR Webinar: Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe, and the Baseball Hall of Fame

If you missed our SABR panel on Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe, and the Baseball Hall of Fame with @keithob.bsky.social, @jayjaffe.bsky.social & @dvnjr.bsky.social, the video is now up on YouTube.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=EIg6...

Filed to ESPN: EXCLUSIVE: Pete Rose, 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson among players reinstated by MLB

Whenever I think of Manfred I think of this profile by
@dvnjr.bsky.social. Van Natta, who is a friend of ours, never intrudes. He barely comments. He allows Manfred to build his own gallows, measure the rope ... www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/...

YouTube video by PABLO TORRE FINDS OUT NFL Owners Confidential: How Roger Goodell Survives Scandal — and a Jerry Jones Coup | PTFO

There’s two kinds of news: the kind powerful people want you to know, and the kind they don’t.

@dvnjr.bsky.social specializes in the latter.

A conversation about investigating the near-coups and power struggles inside the most powerful institution in U.S. culture: the NFL youtu.be/DDd69KKBLrg?...

In Goodell We Trust? Podcast Episode · The Varsity · 02/05/2025 · 43m

New pod: ESPN's Don Van Natta on the biggest business issues facing the NFL.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...

Sources: Snyder 'hates' Commanders success Sources close to the ex-Commanders owner say he remains in denial over what led to his ouster from the NFL.

Dan Snyder’s view of the Commanders title run from afar: ‘He f#%*-ing hates it.’

Snyder’s second act, in London. My latest for ESPN with Seth Wickersham: www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/...