J.C. Tretter | NFLPA President; Former Offensive Lineman

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Tess here. I've always had problems sleeping and once I fall asleep, I couldn't stay asleep. I searched getting to sleep ASAP.

So check this out. Sleep ASAP is a real product by NutriStrips. It's not a pill or drug. It's this amazing little thin strip you put right on your tongue and it activates immediately. Tastes great too. Best night's sleep ever. Go to mysleepasap.com and discover how you can try a full month's supply free.

That's mysleepasap.com. Former Brown Center, five years in Cleveland. He's retired one season now but is still serving as the president of the NFL Players Association, J.C. Tretter. Literally minutes after we find out Joe Thomas is headed to the Hall of Fame.

He's your former teammate J.C., a first ballot Hall of Famer. What's your reaction to the news? Excitement for him. Well deserved. There shouldn't have been a question.

I don't think there was a question that that was going to be the result. The definition of durability, phenomenal teammate, somebody I still consider a friend. Just very happy for him and his family. Yeah, the number of consecutive snaps is astronomical, especially at his position. Were you ever blown away by the fact that he just never took a snap off, never missed one? The thing that doesn't always get carried on in that story is it's not like he was healthy all the time, right? He played through injury and he played at a Hall of Fame level no matter what he was out there with and that sometimes gets lost when people think, oh he was healthy for 10,000 plus snaps. It wasn't always healthy but when he was on the field he played at a Hall of Fame level.

10,363. I don't know that I've ever done anything that many times in a row so that's pretty amazing. This is your first year out of football. What do you miss the most about being on the offensive line yourself?

The locker room. The friendships and bonds you make and just those times. I think everybody somewhat has those moments whether it was you know on the bus home from games when you're in high school or the locker rooms. Those fun moments where nothing's really going on but you're getting each other to laugh and have a good time.

Those are always tough to replicate but it's been great to spend more time with the family. Body feels great so there are some positives too but we'll always miss the guys in that brotherhood. You played in two places where the fan bases are fairly notorious for different reasons of course but Green Bay and Cleveland and last five years of your career were with the Browns. What was the best thing about being a member of that organization JC? It was a really great place for my family. I know that sounds like a cop-out answer but I kind of look back at my career you know I moved to Cleveland with my girlfriend at the time who's now my wife and I've got two kids and Cleveland sat right between our two families.

Her family was in Detroit. My family was in Buffalo, New York and I think we kind of grew up together there and you know as I kind of in the last year have thought about my career my journey through Green Bay and through Cleveland I think of just how thankful I am to have those moments with a ton of family present all the time and kind of when I wrote my retirement letter I thought about you know my parents made it to every one of my college games and they did their best to get to all the Green Bay games and then once I got to Cleveland the ability to get to those games was so much easier but you know you have people who've always been in your corner through your entire career and through your entire life and I think that's what I'll remember most is how special it was to see them almost every every week in Cleveland. You went through some of the lowest of the lows with the franchise and also getting to the playoffs in 2020 was pretty amazing to finally see the Browns break through again.

What was it like to be part of that organization? It seemed like you could pack so much life into a Cleveland Browns season. I think I always say I went there in 2017 when they went one in 15 the year before and I thought well only going up from here right and then we went on 16. So I'm not sure if that was you know poor signings like myself or what was going on but no it was definitely a wild ride some hard years but that year in 2020 was really special and a very unique year with everything going on with COVID and it was different but a special group of guys that kind of caught lightning in a bottle and had a great little run.

JC Tretter with us here on the show for the first time really excited to have him recently retired NFL center but still serving as the president of the NFL Players Association. I know that you were voted and you've got your two-year term. How do you stay connected and stay involved now that you're out of the locker room? I think the guys know that I'll bug them either way. I'll be in touch with them whether I'm seeing them in person or not.

So I live in in McLean, Virginia now. Our PA offices are in downtown DC so I can be closer to the staff now and work on some projects that I've been working on but when I look back at my career and when I'm done with my presidency in March of 2024 I think taking on this role will be you know the greatest thing I did in my career. It'll be something that I look back on for a long time and and just absolutely love and it's a it's a ton of work but it's for the right reasons and and I absolutely love doing it. How much does it matter that you're voted in by your peers? That's the whole point right like you want you want to feel and know that the locker rooms and the locker rooms in each team support you and believe in you because your job is to push the ball as far downfield as you possibly can and a lot of things we don't have another CBA coming up till 2030, 2031 or there's 2025 with their negotiating early and I think it's easy for somebody to be like well you know none of this stuff matters right now. We're not negotiating times it just is what it is but really what a union is based on is each generation of players or people and leaders pushing the ball as far downfield as you can and you know that you'll never see the benefits of the work you do now but the generations beyond you will and you know I've kind of taken pride in that when I took this job I didn't know whether the CBA was going to pass or fail in 2020 and I told the guys when I ran that if it passed I would you know be leading us forward in a time of labor peace and making changes and making this place better and if it failed I would go back to the bargaining table and when it passed as my focus was how can I make this this place better for the next president and that way I've accomplished everything I can to take it off his plate when it's his turn and he should do the same for the next person all the way throughout. You use the word peace as in labor peace how would you describe the relationship between the NFLPA and the league at this point early in the new CBA? I would say it's somewhat like the old tale of cats and dogs like there's labor and management will always be at odds somewhat and there are times where things look like they're being worked together well on the surface and I think you look at COVID and you say like man you guys really work together well now the public doesn't see you know the three hour long screaming matches we had behind the scenes but you know we accomplished what we were trying to do which was playing a full season keeping us many people healthy as possible so labor and management will always have different priorities and sometimes they work together better sometimes they work together a little worse but that will will never change I don't think you could have a union and management always on the same page I just don't think that's in the DNA of either organization. JC Tretter is still serving as the NFLPA president just out of the league after eight seasons as a center and offensive lineman in the NFL I hear all the time that offensive linemen are the best talkers on the team do you agree with that?

It depends what you mean by talker I think the offensive linemen are usually I would say the funniest and also don't take don't take much serious at all which is always something I've enjoyed about the groups I've had and the different offensive line rooms usually if you're in there and you're listening you're going to get a good laugh and nobody takes anything personally. I'm glad to hear it it's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio what are the top priorities right now that the NFLPA and that you as president are navigating? I think health and safety is always top priority we've got a ton of conversations going around about natural grass first artificial turf fields we've got conversations going on about the concussion protocols this year was that topic was a high priority or a very publicized discussion point and then the other the other issues being this far out from a CBA I think is a time to launch new initiatives and do new things and come up with new ideas that can kind of grow over the course of the next decade I think we've done a couple of those already have been released a few more coming behind it and that was really what I was excited about when I took this job in 2020 was I had a ton of new ideas and new things I wanted to try as the leader of the union and then three days after I was elected COVID outbreak happened and we put all those aside because we have to deal with a once in a century pandemic but now that the COVID protocols and the COVID negotiations are in the review mirror it's been really enjoyable to dive back into some of those ideas that I was really passionate about trying two years ago and now get them off the ground this year. The concussion protocols were certainly in the spotlight around what happened with Tua Tagovailoa the Bills and the Bengals those two games when you see that when you think about where the league is now we know concussions were up this year though the NFL is saying that's because the protocols are working what's your perspective on it JC as a former player? Yeah I think our focus with the protocols is one we want our players treated as patients first we don't want them looked at as players we want them looked at as patients and then you know the focus is really on conservative care and that's what we saw with the original issue where you know Tua went back in the game and I think everybody saw that and realized like that is definitely not the conservative approach and we had a concussion protocol in which gross motor instability was allowed to somewhat be overruled by a non-neurological cause caused injury and after seeing how that transpired we realized that is not conservative care and that's why we've changed the protocols to now be a taxio which is now a clear no-go symptom if you show it you are out there's no kind of loophole to go back in the game with it because you you deem it a separate injury and you know concussion protocols will continue to change and continue to evolve they very rarely evolve and change as publicly as this one did but we are always looking at ways to prioritize keeping our players safe and sometimes that's keeping them safe from themselves too and that's what we've seen over the course of years and what you discussed with the NFL's comments that is somewhat true we have completely shifted the mentality I think if you look back 10 15 years ago how players saw concussions and pulling themselves out from concussions that wasn't very normal and now I think players are better understanding the risks and the dangers of playing with concussions and also realizing the symptoms and signs of them and then pulling themselves out of the game and reporting those symptoms to make sure they're protecting themselves as well right we have seen a few players do that or we hear more about it it's becoming more common would you say it's a positive or a negative when this type of an issue or really any type of an issue that faces players the league that it becomes public I think those conversations happen either way like we are always monitoring them and whether it becomes a big you know pr issue that doesn't really change our job as a union our job is to protect the players and make sure they are safe and and these get louder when when that happens and that was the issue with the tua injury was everybody saw it right like they saw him get up and wobble there wasn't much to interpret it was very visual and scary too and a bunch of people ask questions but whether no one noticed that game or what happened the work that got done was going to get done either way because that's our job as a union and that's our job as our medical team is to be evaluating those things and making sure we we close any issues and evolve the protocols so I don't think it matters that much I think anytime it does become a big p you know public issue it helps the conversation be more visible to everybody too and a better time to educate people of what the issues are JC Tretter is with us here after hours on CBS Sports Radio a completely different situation not a concussion but in the wake of the DeMar Hamlin injury that also played out on national tv the incredible care he received right away there in Cincinnati as a former player yourself what's your reaction to how his care was handled those first responders deserve a ton of credit I mean saved saved his life Cincinnati and I think Pittsburgh are two of the best resuscitation hospital networks in the in the country and a lot of that work is what we've done as a union is focusing on getting the right people on the field and getting the right systems in place on the field and those first responders run through like an hour-long checklist before every single game while laying each issue of if this happens what are you doing what are you doing who's on what and those are things the union's pushed for for years when you know the issue happened with with DeMar he had three of the best resuscitation doctors in the country within 50 yards of them that happens from you know the union pushing for the best systems in place to always be protecting the players but a ton of great care for him I it was so great to see him at our NFL PA press conference when he won community MVP rightfully so and I just think everybody's so happy to see him back walking around I saw myself some photos of some of the NFL honors tonight too just so happy for him and his family and really the way the league came together for those those few days that that week where what mattered was DeMar what mattered was one of you know one of their brothers as opposed to getting on a field and trying to win games so yeah so grateful that the care was there just one more thing about the union versus the league that I wanted to ask that I think is intriguing how do you find leverage or how do you try to get the league to move on an issue when right now you're in a situation where there's not a new CBA on the table every issue is different and unique I think in general terms we'll start with the job of the union and the purpose of the union the strength of any union is the willingness of membership to stand united on an issue they care about finding what those issues are and then figuring out what players are willing to do to create the change create the leverage to make the change is is what our job is we could talk for for hours on this issue but getting players to realize the power they have and the power to create change themselves is part of our job as a union as union leadership and we have a incredible executive committee that has a ton of experience and our job is to lead and be what we deem ourselves as kind of the old wise men of the union who have seen a lot and been involved in labor fights and labor disputes and explain to younger players and new board members of this is how we gain leverage these are things we can do to gain leverage and then present them then issues to see what are the issues that guys care most about that are they're willing to fight about and willing to stand united in solidarity over that's kind of our job as union leadership is to find those issues present options and then get guys on board with making changes i do not envy you i'm a little bit too emotional for that type of thing so i i yes i'm impressed jc something fun before i let you go the nflpa has come up with a inaugural players all pro team players voting to come up with their own list of of all pros why was this something that you wanted to do this year there's no greater acknowledgement than understanding you know the respect you have from your own peers and uh there really hasn't been some an award that uh was voted on purely by the players for the players and i know people will say the nfl top 100 but you know the players don't take it serious and the voting system the way they roll it out doesn't make any sense and you're you're asked to compare quarterbacks to centers and there's no way to do that and it just doesn't work so creating kind of a system and a voting system and positions that make the most sense the way players interpret it and then putting the rules in place to really promote who was the best this year and um you know we wanted to kind of see how it would go this year and we were blown away we had a ton of votes we had players very much caring who was going to win we had we had players freaking out and wanting to know you know early results and and wanting to know where they were on the list and we recently released the top five um so players could could realize just how close they were um to getting those those first team all pros and we're going to continue to continue to build this into the future because we had such great comments and results from from players across the league but it is the guys that watch film all week long and go out there and battle in the trenches and on the field against everybody having them single guys out and be like that that's by far the best player in the league at that position i think means a lot to those players that get that recognition great i always find it really amusing when you hear guys talking about their own fantasy football teams and who they draft in their own fantasy football teams i got this guy he's on my team it's a sign of respect right but it's also funny that they're playing the same thing that a lot of the rest of us are playing absolutely so you can find jc treader on twitter at jc t-r-e-t-t-e-r recently retired from the nfl after eight years as an offensive lineman now serving or still serving as the nflpa president it's great to have you on the show i appreciate a few minutes thank you so much for your time absolutely thanks for having me tess here i've always had problems sleeping and once i fall asleep i couldn't stay asleep i searched getting to sleep asap so check this out sleep asap is a real product by nutra strips it's not a pill or drug it's this amazing little thin strip you put right on your tongue and it activates immediately tastes great too best night sleep ever go to my sleep asap.com and discover how you can try a full month supply free that's my sleep asap dot com tess here i've always had problems sleeping and once i fall asleep i couldn't stay asleep i searched getting to sleep asap so check this out sleep asap is a real product by nutra strips it's not a pill or drug it's this amazing little thin strip you put right on your tongue and it activates immediately tastes great too best night's sleep ever go to my sleep asap.com and discover how you can try a full month supply free that's my sleep asap.com tess here i've always had problems sleeping and once i fall asleep i couldn't stay asleep i searched getting to sleep asap so check this out sleep asap is a real product by nutra strips it's not a pill or drug it's this amazing little thin strip you put right on your tongue and it activates immediately tastes great too best night's sleep ever go to my sleep asap.com and discover how you can try a full month supply free that's my sleep asap.com