NFL lockout: Who's to blame for 'football Armageddon'?

Contract talks are kaput. The 2011 season is in jeopardy. Is this the players' fault, or the owners'?

DeMaurice Smith, director of the now-decertified NFL players union, speaks to reporters after negotiations broke down over the weekend, leaving the 2011 season in jeopardy.
(Image credit: Getty)

The dreaded "football Armageddon" has arrived. Contract negotiations between the National Football League's owners and players have broken down. The players have decertified their union and are filing an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL. The teams have locked out their players. This latest round of ugliness increases the (still-long) odds that the 2011-2012 season could be canceled. The two sides remain far apart, with owners refusing to give players a bigger cut of profits, and players rejecting a proposal to play a longer, 18-game season. Who's fault is this mess, really? (Watch an AP report about the NFL lockout)

Blame the players: They're the ones who cut off the talks even though there was "a pretty good offer on the table," says Joshua Lobdell at The Inquisitr. It's not clear just how much more of the NFL's profits players were offered, "but it was an offer so good many NFL owners are glad the players took a pass on it." And the players were bargaining in bad faith. It really seems they were just going through the motions until the time was right to file a lawsuit.

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