In a day that long will be not forgotten in NFL history, the players' union decided to decertify and apparently take its chances in court in its case against the league's owners over the expired Collective Bargaining Agreement with the following statement:

"The NFL Players Association announced today it has informed the NFL, NFL clubs and other necessary parties that it has renounced its status as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the players of the National Football League. The NFLPA will move forward as a professional trade association with the mission of supporting the interests and rights of current and former professional football players."

Those are the words that made it official. What happens next will dictate whether we have football in 2011 — partly, in full or, God forbid, not at all.

What's left of the union clearly believes it has a great chance of winning any antitrust battle with the NFL, with federal judge David S. Doty, who has jurisdiction over league labor matters, presiding. Consistently, the legal system has ruled in favor of the players — and not just Doty; it includes the Supreme Court of the United States in the American Needle case — in antitrust suits.

Not in every case, but in the majority of them. That's why the players feel empowered in their chances in a court ruling, even if U.S. District judge Patrick Schiltz — and not Doty — will see the case first.

The players fired their big guns Friday. The owners fired back with words. Action in the form of a lockout could be next. But there's something to keep in context here: The formal collectively bargained sessions might have ended, but the posturing has not stopped. Nor will the talking between the two sides if our sources are right........

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