One more week....one more day....one more hour. That's what we kept hearing. Then, when the players were supposed to vote on the new collective bargaining agreement on Wednesday, they did not, and player rep boss Kevin Mawae seemed to think there was no urgency. Meanwhile, the owners seemed bent on ratifying the new CBA and lifting the lockout whether the players voted or not. So then the players were expected to vote on Thursday morning. And then Thursday afternoon. And then, finally, Thursday evening, AFTER the owners voted. And vote they did, 31-0 to end the lockout, with the Oakland Raiders abstaining.
So the player reps and Player Association head DeMaurice Smith are on a conference call Thursday night and word keeps leaking out that the players are not happy with the new CBA, saying there are unresolved issues. So as the NFL is saying that team facilities will open on Saturday, the players might be able to hold this up and it appears they are doing that.
Of course, by the time you read this the players could very well have voted on the CBA. They also could drag this out now if they really want to. That said, the owners are now looking like the good guys while the players could be the ones fans turn their anger to if there is no resolution in the next few days.
Hopefully we will have good news to report in the morning, but we've been saying that for weeks now.