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Appeals court says NFL lockout is valid

The court threw out an earlier ruling that had lifted the lockout. Meanwhile, the union and owners met for 12 hours.

July 9, 2011 at 5:12AM

Former Tennessee Titans center and NFL Players Association President Kevin Mowae, right, enters a Manhattan law office, Friday, July 8, 2011, in New York. Members of the NFL Players' Association executive board and owners are meeting in hopes of resolving a lockout that began in March. (Associated Press - Ap/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Vikings headquarters is mostly empty these days, with many taking their summer vacations before the start of training camp. Ordinarily, the time off would be a brief respite before the start of a busy season.

This year, though, there are more than a few NFL types ready to get back to work and hoping for a resolution to a lockout that began March 11. There has been optimism in recent days as representatives from the league and players association meet to try to agree on several key issues, chief being how to split the $9 billion in annual revenues.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith negotiated for 12 hours Thursday at a law firm in Manhattan and met again Friday.

Meanwhile, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis got into the act Friday when it threw out the order by U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson that lifted the lockout.

The appeals court already had put that order on hold and said in its ruling that Nelson ignored federal law in reaching her decision.

"While we respect the court's decision, today's ruling does not change our mutual recognition that this matter must be resolved through negotiation," the league and NFLPA said in a joint statement. "We are committed to our current discussions and reaching a fair agreement that will benefit all parties for years to come and allow for a full 2011 season."

The appeals court ruling enables the players' antitrust lawsuit to move forward, but the court did take issue with the NFLPA's decision to decertify in March, which cleared the way for players to file their still-pending antitrust lawsuit against the league.

"The league and the players' union were parties to a collective bargaining agreement for almost 18 years prior to March 2011," the appeals court said in its 2-1 decision. "They were engaged in collective bargaining over terms and conditions of employment for approximately two years. ... Then, on a single day, just hours before the CBA's expiration, the union discontinued collective bargaining and disclaimed its status ...."

"Whatever the effect of the union's disclaimer on the league's immunity from antitrust liability, the labor dispute did not suddenly disappear just because the players elected to pursue the dispute through antitrust litigation rather than collective bargaining."

A Vikings spokesman said Friday the team would have no comment on the ruling by the 8th Circuit.

Smith did hold a conference call with representatives from all 32 teams to brief them on the latest, according to an ESPN report. The NFL Network reported that no no talks will take place until Monday "at the earliest."

The lockout already has delayed the start of free agency and wiped out the offseason workout programs and minicamps.

Failure to reach a resolution in the coming days could threaten the opening of training camps, with the assumption being that if a deal is not done by July 15 the start of the preseason schedule could be in trouble.

The Rams and Bears are scheduled to report to camp July 22 and play in the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 7. The Vikings are set to report to training camp July 31 in Mankato and have informed Minnesota State they will decide on whether they will be coming south by July 18.

If the work stoppage still is ongoing then, the Vikings will conduct any training camp they are able to have at Winter Park.

The New York Giants and Jets and the Baltimore Ravens already have announced they will remain at their team facilities for training camp. The Vikings' first preseason game is scheduled for Aug. 13 at Tennessee.

As for the optimism surrounding this latest round of talks, some players are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

"They said they were close a couple of months ago, too," said Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr., who has been organizing weekday workouts on the University of Minnesota campus for several players. "Whenever they get it done we'll be ready to go back to work and get back to our daily routines. Until then we're going to just continue to work."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.