'They lied. I fired Goodell': Papa John Schnatter says he ended ties with the NFL, contradicting reports of a mutual split

John Schnatter, founder of the world famous Papa John's pizza chain, said that he ended ties with the NFL, despite the media narrative being that the two entities had a mutual ending to their major partnership.

Papa John's and the NFL were partners since 2010; in late 2017, Schnatter voiced his opinion that the NFL's lack of action over players kneeling during the national anthem had hurt the brand.

"The NFL has hurt us," Schnatter said at the time. "We are disappointed the NFL and its leadership did not resolve this."

"Leadership starts at the top, and this is an example of poor leadership," he added.

The pizza chain pulled ads and removed the NFL shield from its pizza boxes, ESPN reported. However, in early 2018, it was announced that the two entities had come to a "mutual decision" about ending their sponsorship deals.

Schnatter says that wasn't actually the case.

"A man that gets himself in trouble but has principles, will get himself out of trouble pretty quickly. A man that's having success but doesn't have principles, values, once he gets himself in trouble there's no ... I don't see a lot of integrity, dignity, mutual respect out of the NFL," he said on "Fearless."

"That whole model, sooner or later, will fall apart. But it sure doesn't look like from a financial perspective that's going to be anytime soon. I got away from the NFL, they lied."

"I fired Goodell, I got rid of them," Schnatter said of the NFL commissioner.

"That's on the record, but the media spins that. The NFL was playing dirty. Roger Goodell is a dirty guy. He's a coward. I don't want to be associated with it. I don't care how powerful they are, I don't want to be in business with the NFL. That was my call not their call," Schnatter claimed.

The NFL has not responded to questions about Schnatter's claims, nor has the company released any press statements about the issue.

"The NFL, Goodell especially, did not handle the situation right. The controversy was hurting our sales and hurting the small business owners, our franchisees," Schnatter explained, noting that he didn't give a position on the kneeling specifically.

Schnatter added that the mishandling of the situation by his senior management, board of directors, and "malpractice" by a public relations team were the first signs of trouble.

"I was very adamant that this is going to happen again, I'm going to get attacked again, and if we don't have that PR front covered, then the company and me are going to take a pretty good loss, a pretty good hit, and that fell on deaf ears," he said.

The former Papa John's CEO said the writing was on the wall for the company, which has dropped an estimated 30% in stock value in 2024, Schnatter said.

"I've been telling you for seven years [about] their behavior, lack of ethics, lack of principles, lack of loving people, lack of mutual respect, lack of win-win, lack of quality, lack of service, lack of cleanliness," he told host Jason Whitlock.

"Sooner or later, if you don't tend to the shop and run business with integrity and good customer experience, it's going to catch up. A day before I come on your show, it finally has crashed, I mean, they've been rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic now for six years, and the Titanic is finally sinking."

Shares in Papa John's have dropped about $20 from February to May 2024.

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