There isn't much I can say here to soothe the feelings we all have. The news of the players union decertifying on Friday afternoon was sobering, to say the least. Alarming. Upsetting. What the next steps are and how the resolution comes about, I don't know.
I know that there is going to be an NFL draft starting on April 28, and I believe in my heart of hearts that there is going to be football in 2011. Between now and then, though, there is a lot of legal wrangling that needs to happen.
Seventeen days of mediation did not produce a new collective bargaining agreement and, as the reports repeat over and over again, the conversation now heads to the courtroom. There is so much legal mumbo jumbo here that I won't discuss, and there are many hurdles to clear before a new CBA is reached and peace can be achieved.
In the meantime, we all suffer the loss of an NFL offseason. This is a 365-day-a-year business, something to follow around the clock. The offseason is a blast as teams form their 53-man rosters through free agency and the draft.
But we are here in mid March and there is no free agency. The draft is the focus, so that is where coaching staff and personnel departments channel their energies.
For us, we wait and we speculate and we hope and pray that an agreement is reached sooner rather than later to keep the 2011 season intact. At this point, taking sides does nobody any good.
I want football. I want to see what the Eagles have planned for 2011. That's all that matters to me, to you, and hopefully to the players and owners.
