I bet a CBA gets hammered out sooner than later now.

[Stumpy]

Doesn't that assume that there is a lockout? What if the owners give them their best offer and make the player's strike. They they couldn't decertify right? Every player would be making their own decision to strike if they dissolved the union. They would have to keep things intact.

That is where things get hazy for me. And I won't even pretend to have the knowledge of the intricacies of union law to try to answer that with any certainty. With that said, I believe that if the collusion charges stick, there will be no need to decertify.

Although the NFL does hold certain anti-trust exemptions granted by the federal government, a recent federal court case set the precedent, that the NFL is actually 32 separate competing corporations. (One of the many AT exemps overlooks this.) If the Players Union can find a friendly judge, as the licensing group did, then this situation could get real ugly, real fast for the owners.

Hopefully none of this will be necessary, and the two parties will find some common ground in the upcoming meeting. Because WE the fans who bankroll this multi-billion dollar empire, are the ones who will suffer the most from a long, drawn-out legal battle.

[MadHatter]

Players are realizing that they are nothing more than employees.

Best quote was from the comments below the article...."the NFLPA wants the level rewards of owner/partnership with level of investment and risk of employees.....it just doesn't (and should'nt) work like that!"

[MadHatter]

The average player or even the player who has a one or two year career may need to fall back on a college degree after playing days are over.

and, what is wrong with that.

the expectation of players to be able to work for 3-6 years and then be set for life is ridiculous.

[panthers55]

That is where things get hazy for me. And I won't even pretend to have the knowledge of the intricacies of union law to try to answer that with any certainty. With that said, I believe that if the collusion charges stick, there will be no need to decertify.

Although the NFL does hold certain anti-trust exemptions granted by the federal government, a recent federal court case set the precedent, that the NFL is actually 32 separate competing corporations. (One of the many AT exemps overlooks this.) If the Players Union can find a friendly judge, as the licensing group did, then this situation could get real ugly, real fast for the owners.

Hopefully none of this will be necessary, and the two parties will find some common ground in the upcoming meeting. Because WE the fans who bankroll this multi-billion dollar empire, are the ones who will suffer the most from a long, drawn-out legal battle.

I think the collusion charges brought by the manufacturer had to do with individual teams being able to negotiate their own merchandising deals versus having to go through the league which had an exclusive contract with Reebok. The collusion charges brought by the union were that the owners colluded to not sign free agents and purposely underpay them in 2010.

As such they are totally different. And proving collusion by the owners is very hard to do especially if some guys got paid well while others didn't. When there are signed contracts like with merchandising it is much easier, but when every team signs free agents and some went on spending sprees like Chicago while others like the Panthers cut everyone, there wasn't a distinct pattern.

[Snake]

The NFL can now just put a deal on the table and say here ya go. If they reject it or do dont show up the NFL will take that deal, and force the players to strike or play. D.Smiths last leg is to decertify and sue and the owners are not going to allow him that move.

As in chess this is Check and Mate.