NFL Lockout Update: Owners Ratify Proposal, Players Wonder What Just Happened

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It’s 11 p.m. central time on Thursday night and I’m going to watch some Japanese wrestling and go to bed. Before doing that, however, I thought I would provide a quick summary on the NFL labor front for those of you that were smarter than me and chose to not pay attention to the kerfuffle that developed Thursday evening.

If you’re reading this in the morning, there’s a decent chance something else could have occurred overnight. You probably should check out Profootballtalk.com or follow Aaron Nagler on Twitter for the latest. Both of those guys will likely spend the night monitoring the situation instead of watching Japanese wrestling.

Here’s what went down:

  • The owners voted 31-0 to approve a 10-year labor deal and gave the players until Tuesday to reform as a union and accept it. The Oakland Raiders abstained from voting because they probably realize they will go 6-10 and could care less if there is a season or not.
  • The players said they never had a chance to review the proposal and accused the owners of trying to force a deal. Many people were expecting the players to vote on some sort of proposal Thursday, but they didn’t because the players claimed to not know for sure what exactly the owner’s passed.
  • ESPN’s Chris Mortenson reported around 10:45 p.m. that the players eventually received all the details of the owners proposal and a vote could come as early as Friday. Will a vote actually happen? Who knows.
  • My take: I think one of two things happened. 1) The owner’s got sick of the player’s dilly dallying around about re-certifying as a union and other less-significant issues delaying the process and decided to approve a proposal and force the players to act in a more timely fashion. 2) The owners made a last-minute power play.
  • My other take: I’m fairly confident this thing wraps up soon. Once the players calm down and actually review what the owners proposed, I can’t imagine it being so incredibly bad that it would derail the entire process. Sure the players are probably offended that the owner’s publicly put the ball in their court, but they’ll get over it (I hope).
  • My final take: Don’t follow lockout coverage. It’s annoying and mind-numbing. There are a lot of good reporters covering the lockout, but I wish all of them would just go home. Actually, all of them are invited to my house to watch Japanese wrestling if it means they will quit with the constant Tweets about drop-dead dates, who’s entering the building and what issue-of-the-minute is holding up an agreement. Let us know when it’s over. That’s all we need to know.
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Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .

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10 thoughts on “NFL Lockout Update: Owners Ratify Proposal, Players Wonder What Just Happened

  1. Well done Adam, especially in identifying the ‘power play’ aspect. The players had been dithering about resolving the lawsuits — do the players involved get exempted from franchise tags like Reggie was, what happens to the TV money they are arguing about in Doty’s court, etc. The owners just said, effectively, “Fine, cut a deal on that but do it fast.”

  2. What channel can you Japanese wrestling on? Or was it a DVD? Was is Sumo, or do the Japanese have a WWE type thing? That would be sweet.

    1. DVD and WWE style. It’s not as hardcore as it was in the 80s and 90s, but Japanese wrestling is very intense. The Japanese people take it very seriously. Yes, the outcomes are still scripted, but it’s much less of a soap opera than American wrestling. The matches are very physical and the wrestlers are amazing athletes. I’m not sure if they still do them, but the Japanese also used to do all kinds of crazy death matches as well. No rope, barbed wire, exploding ring type of stuff — just crazy.

      Actually, if Goodell and DeSmith squared off in a no rope, barbed wire, exploding ring death match, perhaps this whole thing would get resolved faster.

      1. You might like Genki Sudo, he was in the equivalent of the MMA in Japan (K-12? I don’t watch either), but his intro’s into the ring were like that of professional wrestling.

  3. The players greed shines through again. Look at Brees, Manning, Manins, and Jackson. All wanting $10 million personally or no deal. Holding uop the entire league for personal gain. Disgusting. GO OWNERS!!

    1. I think greed on both sides has shined through plenty often on both sides during this whole ordeal.

  4. It is the job of the union negotiator to inform the union reps. Ole De Mo is trying to pull a “Johnny Cochran”.

    S. O. B.

  5. I think the NFLPA dropped the ball and let the owners slip in infront of them with the ratification. If for instance the players had voted on Wednesday as they had planned, then the owners would have been the ones holding the deal back. It kinda reminds me of the Packers last year knowing that the Bears weren’t going to move up in the 3rd round and sneaking in a stealing Morgan Burnett from their noses. I’m kinda of tired at assigning blame on whose fault it is but props to the owners for this PR move.

  6. I hate that my favorite team and the epitome of all that is good is football is in a state that has more liberals than California. I ashamed to have my realitves in the state of Wisconsin because of the progressive liberal mentality that is ruining the great state of Wisconsin.

    It is simple, as a owner would give your employees 60% of your business? Maybe 51-49. Owners take the risk, they get more money. It is simple. Take the job or get out. I work for my meesly 90k and I take it in the rear to do. The players can take it too. I would give my left nut to eat and workout all the time with personal trainers, even if I had to pay them. The rules today protect the players that football is almost becoming baseball.

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