Trade deals happen every day; Contracts expire, renew, and are negotiated without public knowledge for many large companies and even sports leagues. However, certain contractual changes cannot escape media attention. The National Football League (NFL) is facing the expiration of its Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) (the NFL lockout is now a month old). Currently, the deal has expired and NFL team owners have selfishly chosen to “lock out” the players. The term lockout means that players are essentially not allowed to participate in team activities or tasks until the owner cancels this lockout. While many believe this is simply a battle between team owners and a players' union, it may only appear to most as a selfish act by NFL owners trying to attract rich, greedy men dressed in expensive suits, and the only people they hurt are football fans. First, it's not just the rejections that can be blamed, as the players' union itself has declined potential offers. However, it was the owners who opted out of the collective agreement as it neared its expiration. The situation is different when players and their union decide to strike. This would have indicated that the players had stopped trying. However, this is clearly not the case in the NFL. At one point, before the owners withdrew from the CBA, the players' union had asked to see the owner's financial books because money was one of the main topics in those negotiations. The owners refused to do so and insisted that funding their team was not helpful in fairly negotiating a new collective agreement. These owners clearly want a “fight” and are too stubborn to back down from the “wall” of money that protects them. While in the middle of paper, he is the most powerful of men, companies or societies. When it's ignorance and carelessness that we don't know when we've had enough and want more than we'll ever need, will they hurt the people who brought them where they are and who will take them where they need to go? Don't the owners know they can't survive without the players and, more importantly, the fans they hurt in the process? I think it's time they step up and seriously try to address the players' negation points to end this lockout and let the players play and the fans watch football. Works Cited AP. Mediation resumes in NFL labor dispute. April 14, 2011. The NFL lockout is now a month old. April 12 2011. .