Talks collapse between NFL owners and players

It's looking more and more like a lockout.

The NFL players and owners canceled the second of a two-day bargaining session.  

Reported the AP today,

With just three weeks to go before the collective bargaining agreement expires on March 3, talks between the owners and union came to a halt after just one session.

"We wish we were negotiating today," NFL Players Association spokesman George Atallah said. "That's all I can say"...The collapse of the talks came as a surprise. The two sides got together Wednesday for the second time in five days, the previous negotiations taking place in Dallas on Saturday before the Super Bowl.

Jim Brown, Teamster wannabe

Also today, the players made their case at a news conference in Washington with American Rights at Work.

Baltimore Ravens cornerback Chris Carr said

Most players just know football and just want to play football. We’re here today for the workers working in the concession stands, the bars, and the restaurants. Those are the people it’s really going to affect.

John Marler is one of those workers. He's a beer vendor at Ford Field in Detroit and a member of UNITE HERE Local 24. "A lockout will devastate my coworkers and the city’s economy," he said. 
Sports columnist Dave Zirin said the lockout is huge.

We’re watching the most powerful men in America tell workers to work longer for less pay. This is huge for everyone.

Kimberly Freeman Brown said a lockout is something "that could potentially have devastating consequences on our quality of life and our mental health."

Studies show a lockout would have an impact on 150,000 jobs and cause more than $160 million in lost revenue in every city with an NFL team.

She called a potential work stoppage "something that could potentially have devastating consequences on our quality of life and our mental health."

The Teamsters have a long history of solidarity with the NFL players. In 1967, the great Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown distributed union cards in an effort to form a Teamsters affiliate. Most recently, the Teamsters and the Players Association delivered two tractor-trailers full of food and supplies to needy families in New Orleans.

You can help support the players by signing a petition urging the NFL owners NOT to lock out the players.