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NFLPA Scandal Explained: Why Journalism Still Matters in Sports | D.A. on Pablo Torre Finds Out
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Jul 22, 2025
NFLPA resignations have rocked the football world — and Damon Amendolara breaks it all down. In this 7-minute video, D.A. explains how Pablo Torre’s podcast investigation exposed internal issues within the NFL Players Association that were hidden from union members. As a trained journalist, D.A. shares why real investigative journalism is still essential in today’s sports media landscape. Without it, this NFLPA shakeup never would’ve happened. If you care about NFL news, player rights, and truth in sports media, this is a must-watch. 📌 Subscribe for more on NFL stories, media accountability, and insider breakdowns. #NFLPA #PabloTorre #SportsJournalism #NFLNews #DamonAmendolara #WatchDALive #NFLScandal #UnionRights #DAshow #SportsMediaMatters Join the "Jedi Council" for Member's Only perks like exclusive videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4z-YipQp-oTUmtIC9Lojog/join
View Video Transcript
0:00
My background is with a broadcast
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journalism degree from the New House
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School of Communications at Syracuse
0:07
University. So, journalism will always
0:10
mean something to me. It was it is the
0:13
bedrock, the foundation of my education,
0:17
of my career. Now, I am under no
0:19
delusions that what I do is journalism
0:22
every day. The way I approach my show is
0:26
to try to show you the facts and then
0:29
give me and then give you my opinion on
0:32
the facts. That's the way my brain works
0:35
when I present a story. If you listen to
0:38
my radio show, watch this YouTube show,
0:41
watch any of the YouTube clips on this
0:43
channel, you will see me usually present
0:46
the facts, what happened, the the
0:48
events, the situation, the names, the
0:50
personalities, and then say, "And here's
0:52
my take on things." I am not one to be
0:57
digging into research and getting quotes
1:00
and providing something as a as a a
1:03
two-dimensional object. I also add my
1:06
opinion. and of course character and
1:08
personality and wackiness etc. as the
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entertainment value to it. But I really
1:14
feel strongly that the journalism
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part of what we do in sports media and
1:22
who we are as consumers of sports media
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is vital. And those things are going
1:28
away because they just don't make as
1:31
much money as the entertainment part of
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it does anymore.
1:35
And as newspapers have been stripped to
1:37
the bone, and as local news has been
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stripped to the bone, and as some radio
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stations have been stripped down to the
1:45
bone, you will routinely get
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less and less and less and less
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journalism because there's less
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resources to dedicate to the stuff that
1:57
doesn't move the needle, right? The
2:00
stuff that takes a long time, the stuff
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that takes work, the stuff that isn't
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splashy, catch you, get your attention,
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but it is of extreme importance that we
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look for that in sports media, that we
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still value that in sports media. And
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Pablo Tori is a good example of this.
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Pablo has a a podcast called Pablo Tori
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Finds Out. He has a bedrock of
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journalism behind what he does. He he he
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worked as a fact checker for Sports
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Illustrated. He was a writer for Sports
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Illustrated. So, he is one of those in
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the weeds guys with facts and
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double-checking resources and all these
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types of of things that you need to do
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to make sure you get the story right. He
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also, of course, colors lots of what he
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does with personality because in today's
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day and age, you have to do a little bit
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of that to bring you in for some of the
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boring stuff as well. Well, his podcast
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on the NFL PA and the collusion case
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made major waves over the last couple of
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weeks, but would it amount to anything?
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Well, this week we see two members of
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the NFL PA both resign. And this is very
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significant. Okay, this is very
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significant because these guys would not
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have done this unless Pablo Tori did his
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job.
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and Lloyd Howell and JC Treader were at
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the top of a players association
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that got a very favorable amount of
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evidence that the NFL owners were
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colluding to keep down guaranteed
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contracts after Deshaawn Watson's deal.
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And they didn't tell their constituency.
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They did not tell the union. They wanted
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it to go away.
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They wanted it to go away because there
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was too much internally that they didn't
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want out that they didn't do or they
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didn't do on the players association
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side of things as leaders. And they
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thought, you know what, we're not even
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going to tell our union, the players
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themselves, about what was dug up, about
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what the owners said or did not say,
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about what we found as evidence to
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collusion. we won't even let them know
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about this because we don't want the
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other stuff that was found out about us
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to be made public to them. So they hid
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they hid their information from their
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constituents.
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And now once Pablo Tori dug and Mike
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Florio dug into this and exposed what
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the union didn't even know, what the
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players didn't even know, the rank and
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file didn't even know. Suddenly the heat
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was so hot on these two guys they had to
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bounce.
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This is not just about as a consumer
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caring about sports journalism or
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journalism in general. This is about as
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employees, as citizens caring that
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somebody somebody is digging to uncover
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what you may need to know. And I think
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about all those players in the NFL
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that should have always known the
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ugliness of what the NFL owners tried to
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do and tried to manipulate or at least
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would want to know, right? I mean, if
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you were part of a union, you would want
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to know that your CEOs or your owners of
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your company were trying to hide or do
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this or do that. You'd want to at least
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know that if that was dug up. Their own
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union wasn't going to tell them unless
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Pablo Tori and his bank of fact checkers
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and journalists etc to put together a
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podcast dug and dug deep and Mike Florio
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confirmed and dug deep.
6:00
It's amazing. These two guys would still
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be at the head of this union. These two
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guys would be swimming fine. These two
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guys would be working hand in hand.
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These two guys would be making sure the
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people in power stay in power because
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you know what is more comfortable at the
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top and we don't need any of the heat.
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So you know what? We don't want them
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knowing anything about this. Our own
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constituents who pay our salaries as the
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players association union leaders.
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It's amazing. It's amazing. It's
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amazing.
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But that's what it takes. That's what it
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takes. It takes somebody to do the dirty
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work. And if you listen to this podcast,
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it's dense. It's deep. And I listened to
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it and I was like, there's a lot here, a
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lot of moving parts. This is a lot to
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digest. And probably a lot of people
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tune out after 7 minutes of this. But
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it's so valuable. And it was so valuable
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that those two guys got pushed out,
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forced to resign because the heat got
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too hot.
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and they deserve to get pushed out
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because they didn't do right by their
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own constituents who they are employed
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to protect.
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And thankfully the players got the real
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story to then make a decision about
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better leadership and not a lot of,
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you know, boys club slapping each other
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on the back making sure those in power
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stay in power. Yikes.