AP

As expected, the NFLPA* conference call including members of the Executive Committee and the board of player representatives has ended without a vote being taken, according to multiple media reports.

The vote comes as no surprise, given the largely negative reaction to the NFL’s apparent power play to approve an incomplete deal and force the players to agree.

It now falls back to the leaders, two men now joined at the hip, to make their way out of the forest on three legs.

Many believe that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA* executive director DeMaurice Smith have forged a positive relationship in recent weeks. That relationship could be pushed to the limits in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, maybe it’s time for U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan to call both men up and ask them precisely what in the hell is going on.