ON FRIDAY NIGHT, less than a day after Lloyd Howell Jr. abruptly resigned as the embattled boss of the NFL Players Association, dozens of union representatives and alternates met during a two-hour Zoom call to try to make sense of what had just happened and find a pathway to fresh leadership.
Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs' MVP quarterback and second alternate player rep, spoke up to rally a group that was grappling with the worst crisis in the NFLPA's 68-year history.
"We need to get our choice for leader right," Mahomes said, according to four people briefed on his comments.