Tag: JC Tretter

JC Tretter issues statement urging fellow players to speak out against racism

Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter issues statement urging fellow players to speak out against racism

Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter, acting in his role as the president of the NFLPA, released a public statement on Saturday urging his fellow players to speak out and act against racism.

Tretter was spurned to action by the recent death of George Floyd, an African-American man who was killed by a white policeman in Minneapolis. Floyd’s death and the outrage surrounding it have resulted in fiery riots and protests in several major cities, including a large one in downtown Cleveland on Saturday.

The full statement, via Tretter’s Twitter account:

“At this time every month I release a column around topics related to the NFLPA and its players. However, there are issues at hand that need to be addressed that are bigger than the game of football.

“Like many of you processing the news of George Floyd’s murder, I’ve felt a range of emotions from disbelief to anger. Unfortunately, this is not just about George Floyd’s senseless and avoidable death. The issue of changing systemic racism and individual prejudice in our country is long overdue.

“As a white man, I will never fully understand the daily experiences and fears that people of color in this country live with. Sports have provided me an opportunity to form friendships with people from different backgrounds, races, religions, and beliefs. These friendships have helped broaden and shape my understanding of others’ perspectives and struggles.

NFL players union has not yet agreed to a reopening plan

The NFL players union (NFLPA) has not yet agreed to a reopening plan following the pandemic despite some team facilities opening their doors.

The National Football League might be allowing for team facilities to slowly reopen around the country, however, the players themselves are not yet ready to return.

Browns center and NFL Players Association president, JC Tretter, tweeted the following message on Tuesday.

“Players: our union has not agreed to any reopening plan. Any reports about coming back to work are hypothetical. You will hear from the NFLPA when there are new developments.”

Tretter’s tweet could be a reaction to the report by CBS Sports’ Charles Robinson that suggested head coaches could return as soon as next week and minicamps could be held beginning mid-June.

“We have the, I guess what you could call an advantage of we still have time before our season is projected to start,” Tretter said on a conference call May 19 via CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards. “A lot of the other leagues are trying to figure this out right now and trying to piece it together, and we still have time. I would not say we are at the point where we need to make an agreement.

“We are going to keep sitting back and making sure we make the right decisions for our players.”

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JC Tretter throws cold water on ‘hypothetical’ reopening of NFL facilities

Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter throws cold water on ‘hypothetical’ reopening of NFL facilities

Hours after a report of a potential widespread opening of NFL team facilities and a return to normalcy caught fire, Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter doused it with some cold-watered reality.

Responding to the initial report from Yahoo Sports, Tretter sent a message to his fellow NFL players on Twitter. In it, the newly elected president of the union terms the potential opening of team facilities and return of in-person coaching as “hypothetical”. The promise of training camps operating as regularly scheduled in June will need to take a pause based on Tretter’s representation of the NFLPA’s position.

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Thursdays are virtual locker room days for Browns players

Browns center JC Tretter talked about how the players have created a virtual locker room every Thursday

Thursday means players’ locker room day for the Cleveland Browns. Even in the coronavirus pandemic, the players are still efforting to stay close and have their “us” time together.

Center JC Tretter talked about the process of making a virtual locker room every Thursday for players only during his conference call with reporters earlier this week.

″[On Thursdays] special teams meets and the rest of the guys kind of sit on a Zoom call and just do what you would have done if you were sitting in the locker room,” Tretter said. “Talk and chat and we’ll go over plays and Baker will run us through different things and we’ll talk through our calls.”

It’s as close as the players can get to working together during the pandemic.

“A lot of that is just a chance to get to know each other and see each other’s personalities. We have a lot of new additions. What are their families like, how are they doing, where are they living, all that stuff is important. We’ve kind of got that built into our program, allowing players to take the lead and go through plays as well as just be guys in the locker room, just virtually.”

This is done outside the structure of the Browns’ own offseason activities, which have been going on for over three weeks.

JC Tretter: Jack Conklin ‘fits right in’ with overhauled Browns offensive line

Conklin has scheme familiarity from his days in Tennessee

They still haven’t met in person as members of the Cleveland Browns, but center JC Tretter is already thrilled with how easily he get along with new right tackle Jack Conklin. Tretter was asked about how the prime new addition to the offensive line is working out so far during his conference call with reporters.

“I have spoken a bunch to Jack,” Tretter said Tuesday. “It is nice to have another veteran in the room who has been extremely experienced and one who has had a lot of individual success. He has been a great addition, too, of just being able to step in and pick up the system. I think he is kind of built for it.”

Conklin comes from Tennessee, which ran a similar zone blocking scheme that the Browns will deploy under new head coach Kevin Stefanski. Tretter also appreciates Conklin’s driven but affable personality,

“He has been a great guy, too, just to put in the room and another great personality. He kind of fits right in.”

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JC Tretter leading NFL players in planning how to return to action with COVID-19 realities

JC Tretter talked about what the NFLPA is doing under his leadership to help plan for the NFL’s return under the COVID-19 pandemic

JC Tretter added another title to his name this offseason. Aside from being the starting center for the Cleveland Browns, Tretter now serves as the president of the NFLPA. He was elected shortly after creating an influential summary list of pros and cons for fellow players as they decided upon approving the new collective bargaining agreement.

Now Tretter is balancing his union responsibilities with his duties as the leader of the Browns offensive line. In a Zoom chat with the media on Tuesday, the focus was on Tretter’s work in leading the NFLPA in the effort to navigate the coronavirus pandemic and all the associated questions surrounding its impact on football this year.

When asked about his level of optimism about if the season will be played as normal, Tretter deferred from answering the unknown question directly.

“I would say I can’t put a percentage or level on it. I try to live in two-week increments,” Tretter said before further explaining how the players are approaching each step. “The information is ever-changing and ever-evolving … you can’t really look that far ahead. You can’t really live in that kind of world with hypotheticals when things are changing so much from week to week.”

Tretter stressed the need for increased testing, particularly for players and staffers with preconditions that leave them more vulnerable.

“There’s a long list of things that we need to come up with to make this environment safe for us,” Tretter stated when asked about what plans the union is pursuing.

Later he added, “I don’t think we’ll ever get to the point where there’s no risk of exposure,” referencing both football and just daily life.

Browns center JC Tretter is the new NFLPA president

Tretter has a degree in labor relations

The NFLPA has elected Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter as the new president of the player’s union. The players voted on Tuesday shortly after the nominations were made public. Tretter was one of four finalists, though Chargers tackle Russell Okung quickly withdrew his name from consideration.

Tretter is a natural for the position. He has a degree in labor relations from Cornell, where he stood out as both a football player and a student. Tretter wrote an informative, unbiased breakdown of the current CBA proposal from owners that laid out the direct impact of what voting for, or against, would do to players.

Tretter will take over for Eric Winston, who has been the president for several seasons even though he has not played in the league since 2017.

 

The “other” Michael Thomas is up for NFLPA president

The NFLPA is voting on a new union president, which may be Giants safety Michael Thomas, not to be confused with the Saints wide receiver.

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Michael Thomas is a top candidate to be named president of the NFL Players Association, but it’s not the Michael Thomas that New Orleans Saints fans may be thinking of. The 30-year-old safety for the New York Giants made his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2018, and he’s received endorsements from prominent voices including Richard Sherman and Russell Okung.

The NFLPA counts 2,400-plus active players within its membership, with more than 8,700 former players relying on the labor union to negotiate benefits for them in retirement. Former Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Eric Winston has served as NFLPA president since his election back in 2014, replacing Dominique Foxworth; the union president works with executive director DeMaurice Smith to spread information and coordinate votes within the sprawling union membership.

Thomas has been nominated against three other candidates, including Okung, who withdrew his candidacy and stumped for Thomas. The remaining two options are Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Sam Acho and Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter. If Thomas wins, expect some light confusion among fans mistaking him for the 27-year-old Saints wide receiver.

However, there shouldn’t be any immediate impacts on the in-progress NFLPA membership vote on a new collective bargaining agreement. The union’s board of representatives agreed to extend the voting deadline to 11:59 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 14, giving all players opportunity to make an educated decision before casting their ballot. Whether it’s Thomas, Acho, or Tretter in the president role, they’ll be charged with managing the transition to a new era should the CBA be ratified.

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JC Tretter has been nominated for NFLPA president

Tretter is one of 4 players nominated to succeed Eric Winston

Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter has been nominated by his player peers to be the next president of the NFL Players Association, or NFLPA. Tretter is one of four players selected by players to be the potential next president of the player’s union, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com.

Tretter joins Buccaneers LB Sam Acho, Chargers OT Russell Okung and Giants safety Michael Thomas as players nominated to be the next NFLPA president. The current president is Eric Winston, who has not played in the NFL since 2017.

Tretter recently penned an informative letter breaking down the latest owner’s proposal for the next CBA that was well-received by both players and fans alike. He’s long been a locker room leader with both the Browns and Green Bay Packers, where he spent his first three seasons.

Browns center JC Tretter breaks down the latest CBA proposal for players

Tretter puts the proposal into more digestible terms for players and fans alike

Cleveland Browns center JC Tretter is putting his Cornell education to good use and trying to help his fellow NFL players. Tretter broke down the specific points of the latest proposal from NFL owners in a series of slides distributed by the NFLPA to players in advance of the voting to approve or reject the proposal.

Tretter’s former Packers teammate and player rep, David Bakhtiari, posted the informative breakdown from Tretter on Twitter for greater consumption by the general public. The Browns center highlights several key points, noting how they impact the players directly instead of just regurgitating the owner’s language.

In Tretter’s own words:

The players are expected to vote on the proposal as soon as this weekend.