Throughout the summer of 2011, it was a dark, dark time for the NFL as the NFL Players Association and the owners were at odds, leading to a five-month lockout.
That lockout was due to a dispute in the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations that had owners and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell calling for a cutback in salaries and benefits under the salary cap system, stating to the NFLPA at the time that they’d lock out the players if there was no agreement by March 1, 2011.
Of course, the lockout commenced on March 7, 2011 after a one-week extension of the CBA.