The Pittsburgh Steelers and the other 31 franchises across the NFL try to stay off of the radar during the offseason while focusing on building a plan to attack the next yearly campaign. Something that always gets thrown out into the public during that time is the NFLPA report cards, where players are anonymously asked for a grade on their organization's various services and amenities. This can include team travel, treatment of families, coaching, ownership, facilities, food, and training staff. Multiple players from every team are asked, and the results are typically pretty condemning towards a few owners in the league.
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Steelers Team President and Owner Art Rooney II holds a slight grin while talking to the media.
These grades typically get publicized sometime around the end of February and the start of March, and it is like throwing chum into the water with a bunch of sharks circling. Fans from every fan base erupt with complaints about whatever doesn't look great on the report card that time around, and it got to a point where franchises were actually using the information from these report cards to improve. It became a good thing as owners were getting better in areas they were previously lacking, but that is coming to an end as the NFLPA is no longer allowed to put out these report cards.
Sources: The NFL informed all 32 teams today in a memo that it prevailed in its grievance vs. the NFLPA and its “team report cards.” An arbitrator determined that the NFLPA’s conduct violated the CBA and ordered it to stop making public any future report cards. pic.twitter.com/mss5WUQjhF
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 13, 2026
No future report cards can be made public, which means the external pressure that is put on owners and executives might die down a little bit. Ultimately, that is not a good thing for the players. That means there is no real driving force for owners to pay to upgrade facilities, make changes to team travel, or anything of that nature.
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Jets Owner Woody Johnson speaks with the officials prior to the start of a home game against the Miami Dolphins.
The main owner behind getting this change made was Woody Johnson, and he owns the New York Jets. He also happened to be the lowest-graded owner in the league on the 2025 report card as he received an F. It wasn't just Johnson that was upset that these report cards were made public, but he has been the only known owner that was vocal about making this change. It is fair to assume he had other owners on his side, and probably ones that were graded poorly in recent years as well. Art Rooney II fits that mold as he received a D in 2025.
Hopefully the final NFLPA report card woke Rooney up and made him realize that changes to be made. It has been reported that the Steelers are exploring a bigger and an upgraded practice facility, which would be a step in the right direction. The locker room looks prehistoric in comparison to other team's around the league, and that could be one of the small things that might hurt a team when it comes to attracting free agents.
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Steelers President Art Rooney II walks on the field before the team gets ready for a game against its AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA.
Steelers' Art Rooney II Is Now Protected By The NFL
The decision to no longer have these report cards go public protects the owners, but hopefully the various ownership groups from around the league still take them seriously. Upgrades need to be made, and the Steelers are lacking in that area dramatically. Most college facilities look better than NFL facilities, and that should be embarrassing to these owners who are too cheap to spend some money and improve their players' surroundings. Players' working conditions matter.
I’ll just say this: The report cards absolutely, positively made a difference in how players working conditions changed. And two of the teams that did really poorly on these—Arizona and New England—are now building entirely new practice facilities. https://t.co/WnYzUo4dAi
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 13, 2026
What do you think of this decision? Let us know in the comments below!
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