On Thursday night, ESPN’s lockout coverage had a big banner in the upper left corner of my television screen.
“PLAYERS TO VOTE FRIDAY,” it said.
Later in the night, we noticed it was changed to:
“PLAYERS EXPECTED TO VOTE FRIDAY.”
Now ESPN’s Chris Mortensen is backing off that timeline. Speaking on SportsCenter Friday, Mort reported it was “unlikely” the players would vote on a new CBA on Friday.
NFLPA* DeMaurice Smith is at Myra Kraft’s funeral in Boston Friday. That helps put in perspective how trivial this labor drama is when you take a step back from things.
Mortensen is hearing from the NFLPA* that a conference call with a player vote could be possible Friday night, but more likely it would take place on the weekend or early next week. If there is no vote Friday, the timeline of free agency the league optimistically announced Thursday would presumably changed.
We’re not picking on Mort here. He broke a lot of ground throughout Thursday and kept viewers up to date throughout the process. His information on a likely Friday vote yesterday came directly from NFLPA* leadership, according to his reporting. It wasn’t off the record.
Once again, it’s a reminder that no one knows exactly how this will all end. Not even those leading the process.