National Football League

Seahawks players give union option to decertify

Published Nov. 18, 2010 4:57 p.m. ET

foxsports

Seattle Seahawks players voted Wednesday to give the NFL Players Association the option of decertifying if there is a lockout next year.

The Seahawks join more than half of the league in voting to decertify if a lockout takes place once the current collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2010 season.

Decertification would give the union a chance to sue under antitrust laws if there is a lockout. Without decertification, the union would have to wait six months to file a suit after the collective bargaining agreement expired.

Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, one of the team's alternate union representatives, said the players have done everything they needed to do and that from this point forward the matter is out of the players' hands.