NFL Exec Says NFLPA Report Card Grades 'Just Take Snippets to Embarrass People'

One NFL team executive questioned the utility of the NFL Players Association's annual report cards, which are coming under increased scrutiny.

"It could make you better, but they don't share how," the exec told ESPN's Brooke Pryor. "They just take snippets to embarrass people without sharing the data."

This an issue raised by Pryor's colleagues, Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr., when they first reported on Nov. 13 the NFL had filed a grievance to halt the release of the report cards. According to Wickersham and Van Natta, some team owners believe they "serve as an instrument to mock teams without telling them which areas need improvement."

The report cards are broken into broad categories and focus on areas such as training facilities, the coaching staff, travel accommodations and amenities for child care. Each subcategory includes a few remarks.

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward believes this is a way for more players to offer their honest assessments.

"If anything, it's just creating good dialogue," he said, per Pryor. "It doesn't have to be a leader or a captain, but any player can voice an opinion and tell what they see outside from a different team to this team. You want a championship culture all around, and you want to emulate others, but we're not asking you to break the bank. But if we see something, we want to make sure everybody's aware."

And while the feedback in the report cards doesn't get into specifics, it does provide broad advice about areas that might be lacking.

The New England Patriots, for example, received an "F-minus" grade for treatment of families in 2024. The lack of a family room or daycare support on game days were listed as concerns.

Team owner Robert Kraft responded by saying he "was unaware of how bad that was" and signaled that improvements were coming. The Patriots rose from 30th to 18th in treatment of families in their 2025 report card.

Per Pryor, the NFLPA indicated to its members the organization will continue with the exercise absent a ruling otherwise as a result of the league's grievance.