NFL owners say yes, and...

So does the Players Association. On day 136 of the lockout, both sides of the table finally agree, and there will be a 2011 football season. Into the 3am hour of Sunday morning, a handshake happened as we all slept, and football was back. A relationship was bonded together for the next 10 years. This new Collective Bargaining Aggreement has many differences from the previous agreement set back in 2006. That deal was six years with an opt out after two years, this deal is 10 years with no opt out. So this CBA will be 10 years long, no if's, and's or but's. The previous CBA had 56 percent of money gioing to players and only a five to 10 year retirement plan. This CBA, 46-48 percent of money goes to players, but retirement is for life. If it were me, I would vote for the latter. Players need to be proactive about their money and retirement.  The great thing in this new deal that is in the players favor, and it's fair is this. Say a rookie comes into the season this year, and has a career ending injury in week 4 of the season, he will have insurance for the rest of his life to help with his injury and other lingering health problems that might stem from the injury.

Since the football year is right around the corner, facilitiy headquarters can start to open as early as tomorow, with players set to show and start to work out. All training camps are set to open at week's end. Free agency will begin as well. Usually free agency starts back in March, but since the lockout, players couldn't workout for other teams. There are 100 plus free agents this year, and they usually take a few months to decide and workout for many teams, this year it will be one week. Players normally would travel to the different team facilities, not this year. Good bye to the plane ride, and hello to the conference call.  

One thing that came into my mind, and it doesn't deal with the new CBA, is baseball has to hate that football is back. I  love baseball. But to me, baseball is my past time in between football seasons. Football is the biggest sport in the United States, and when football is in season, it takes a lot of fans away from the summer past time and back to football.

So lets lace up those cleats, put on those helmets and buckle up the straps, because someone is about to get knocked out. Football is back and it's here to stay.