After today, an NFL lockout is - unfortunately - even closer to happening as the Players Association has elected to decertify the union after they couldn't agree on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The NFL Players Association released the following statement around 5 p.m. on Friday evening after earlier in the day issuing an ultimatum that asked for ten years worth of audited financial statements from the owners.
The NFL Players Association announced today it has informed the NFL, NFL clubs and other necessary parties that it has renounced its status as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the players of the National Football League.
The NFLPA will move forward as a professional trade association with the mission of supporting the interests and rights of current and former professional football players.
According to Sports Illustrated, the move is expected to transfer the labor impasse from the bargaining room to the court room. The owners previously said they would lock out the players if the sides failed to come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement before Friday's midnight deadline.