On Monday NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and other union officials made their way to Kansas City to meet with the Kansas City Chiefs players. While there, the players voted to decertify the union if necessary next year.
Bob Gretz of BobGretz.com first reported the news and I've separately confirmed.
Also at the meeting on Monday the players voted on their 2010 player reps.
Returning is Rudy Niswanger as a rep and Jon McGraw as a co-alternate. They were both on board last year. The new guy this year is Andy Studebaker who was voted on as a co-alternate for the first time. Mike Vrabel and Brian Waters are both on the executive committee so the Chiefs have lots of knowledge in their locker room on the labor situation.
The decision to vote to decertify if necessary is a procedural move at this point. There's a lot of legal language involved but essentially the union would disband and then sue the league under antitrust laws.
The best case at this point -- if you're a fan -- is that the two sides either get a deal done ASAP or the union goes this route and the game can continue to be played while another battle is waged in the courts.
I think more folks are becoming aware of the battle between these two sides and I think more folks are realizing one thing: Hey, we just want football in 2011.