Millionaire players and billionaire strike uneasy truce in an effort for all parties to boost their net worths in the coming years, AP reports:
Now it can be said with certainty: Get ready for some football!
NFL players voted to OK a final deal Monday, days after the owners approved a tentative agreement, and the sides finally managed to put an end to the 4 1/2 -month lockout, the longest work stoppage in league history.
“This is a long time coming, and football’s back,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said, “and that’s the great news for everybody.”
At a joint appearance outside the NFL Players Association headquarters, Goodell and NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith were flanked by some of the owners and players who were involved in the talks. They spoke shortly after the NFLPA executive board and 32 team reps voted unanimously to approve the terms of a deal.
We didn’t get everything that either side wanted … but we did arrive at a deal that we think is fair and balanced,” Smith said.
Owners overwhelmingly approved a proposal Thursday, but some unresolved issues still needed to be reviewed to satisfy players; the owners do not need to vote again.
The sides worked through the weekend and wrapped up the details Monday morning on a final pact that runs for 10 years, without an opt-out clause, a person familiar with the deal told the AP on condition of anonymity.
At Hot Air, Ed Morrissey adds, “After the camps open, the NFLPA has to go through the process of getting recertified as a union. The process will moot the antitrust lawsuit brought by Tom Brady and other players as a means to pressure the league into ending the lockout. Until that process is completed, disciplinary action and drug testing cannot resume, although it should not take long to recertify; the union should be back to full operation by the end of the week as well.”
Ed notes that the end of strike also means we begin this year’s will he or won’t he, and where will he sign Brett Favre sightings. Who’s up for seeing Favre in a Philadelphia Eagles uniform backing up Michael Vick?
Bueller…? Anyone…?
Earlier at the Lifestyle blog: If you build it, they will blitz, and the birth of Monday Night Football.
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