Linebacker Ben Leber is one of the Vikings assistant player representatives in the union and attended a 4-hour negotiating session with owners in Washington, D.C, last week.

Leber spent the day following negotiations between the league and union and participated in an afternoon conference call. Leber was naturally disappointed when talks ended without a new collective bargaining agreement Friday and the players union decertified.

"I'm really disappointed," Leber said. "I was really optimistic at the beginning of the week when we agreed to this one-week extension. I really felt like they were making some headway and I was like, 'Ok, this is a good sign and that both sides are trying to get something done. That they're going to actually start playing ball and we can get something hammered out in seven days.' As the days came closer to the deadline, it appeared more and more like they still weren't playing ball and still weren't even close to talking about some of the core economics of the dispute and it ended up with us, as a union, having to protect ourselves."

Financial transparency was at the center of the union's argument. The union continued to ask owners to turn over financial data to show why they need a larger percentage of the $9 billion in annual revenues.

"It's a huge deal," Leber said. "You look at any sort of dispute, whether it be the NFL vs. the players or any sort of major industry, if someone says, 'Listen, I want X amount of dollars back from you.' I don't know any situation where the other person doesn't ask, 'Why?' That's all we've asked is why? And they say, 'Well, just trust us. It's for the best of the game. It's to further the game and grow the game and grow this pie' that everybody keeps talking about. All we've ever asked is why. And they've never responded. They basically say it's none of our business and to trust us. You can't go very far in negotiations when one side doesn't even answer the simple question why." Leber has agreed to be a plaintiff in an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL. He explained what his role will be. "Just represent the class of players in this process," he said. "From what I understand I have to give some deposition as to how this affects my situation as a free agent and just overall testimony about how this affects the class of players. It's really minimal. Just give my best effort to help out the guys and show the judges or whoever is presiding over it, why this affects us and how we're negatively affected by what the owners are doing." Leber agreed that the labor battle becomes even more complicated and difficult to comprehend now that it is in the court system. "I think if players and the public were in the gray area as far as what was even being disputed these last two years, I think everybody is really going to be confused as to what's going to go on from here," he said. "I think legally you can probably break it down and say, 'OK, well here are a few avenues that can take place.' But now everybody has to wait for the other person to volley back. Now it just goes back and forth." The frustration and disappointment in Leber's voice was obvious during our phone conversation. "It's a bad day for everyone," he said. "Nobody ever thought that we would take this game that has been growing every year and the popularity has grown, even so much to where Commissioner [Roger] Goodell is talking about expanding outside the United States ... to take this huge enterprise and shut it down, it just doesn't make any sense."