The Vikings were a few minutes late getting out to the field for their first fully-padded practice on Thursday afternoon. There was one last piece of business to attend to—voting to ratify the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
↵Thursday was the first day that NFL players with new contracts could practice, but the players had to vote to officially pass the CBA. While reports from Vikings training camp said the new players like Donovan McNabb were dressed and ready, they were still waiting to fully participate until they got the go-ahead from the league office. But just before 4:00 PM, Rick Spielman gave the signal, and the lockout was completely, totally, 100% over.
↵Here’s to hoping that NFL fans (and bloggers) really don’t have to deal with all of this for at least another ten years.