For a good hour last night, it really seemed like the NFL Lockout was coming to an end. The owners voted to “ratify the proposal settling the players’ antitrust litigation” and we all thought, “Hooray! Now our teams can start making bad decisions again!” Well it turns out that was wrong. Apparently it was really wrong.
According to Pro Football Talk, “someone” sent an email to the NFLPA* about the owners’ vote, prompting DeMaurice Smith to send the following email to the player representatives:
“As you know the Owners have ratified their proposal to settle our differences,” the e-mail states. “It is my understanding they are forwarding it to us. As you may have heard, they apparently approved a supplemental revenue sharing proposal. Obviously, we have not been a part of those discussions. As you know from yesterday, issues that need to be collectively bargained remain open other issues such as workers compensation, economic issues and end of deal terms remain unresolved. There is no agreement between the NFL and the Players at this time. I look forward to our call tonight.”
The owners have now given the players a Tuesday deadline to respond to this deal, but this was basically the general player response last night…
So yeah, we’re back to this.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen believes the players could vote today, and a yes would allow the league to resume on July 27. There are some other details that still need to be ironed out with the NFLPA’s recertification, but who knows at this point? All I know is that guys like Jeff Kessler are working hard to make sure this agreement happens.
