NFL Lockout: 5 Reasons Why It's Time for the Madness to End

The NFL is the greatest professional sports league in the world. Fans across the country follow their teams religiously 365 days a year, but they have been been outraged by an NFL Lockout that has dragged on longer than a Jersey Shore catfight.

It is time for the madness to end. The lockout has reached an unimaginable 111 days and still shows no signs of ending soon. The NFL and NFLPA have been meeting together all week, but that is not good enough. They need to come to an agreement now and end this nonsense.

Here are the top five reasons why it's time for the NFL lockout to end.

5. Free Agency

Free agency is one of the most exciting times of the year for any football fan, and the NFL lockout has taken that away. The Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl, but even they would like the opportunity to improve their team.

There is a reason that articles on potential landing spots for free agents are published every day. Every fan wants their team to land the marquee player on the market. Every fan believes that they know the player who will take their team to the next level.

So while the NFL and NFLPA continue to argue over how they should split $9 billion, the greatest fans in the world will continue to ask, where will Nnamdi Asomugha end up?

4. Greed

NFL and NFLPA, I want you to listen close on this one.

We understand that you are arguing over a whole bunch of money, but how can it take you over 100 days to reasonably split up $9 billion when over nine percent of the country is unemployed?

Fans across the country have grown increasingly disgusted by the day at the complete disregard for their feelings. Greed and arrogance is threatening to chase some of these fans away from this great game forever.

The problem is that the NFL and NFLPA know that whenever a season begins, fans will continue to sell-out every game, watch games on television and buy every piece of merchandise available for their team.

Greed is never a good thing, but when a good part of the country is struggling economically, it is even worse.

3. Acting Like Children

We are now entering the fourth month of grown men openly calling their opposition liars. Roger Goodell claims that the players are unwilling to negotiate with the owners, while the players claim that the owners are unwilling to negotiate with them.

The NFL experienced record profits in 2010, but that hasn't stopped the owners and players of the league from being miles apart on a myriad of issues.

Billionaires vs. millionaires folks.

2. Too Much Time on Their Hands

Remember when Ray Lewis said the lockout needed to end because fan's would be getting in more trouble? Well 10 players were arrested during the first month of the lockout, so how does that make you feel Mr. Lewis?

It's kind of ironic that the players were initially locked out, and some now are just getting locked up.

The stories range from Mike Vrabel being arrested for theft at a casino to Louis Murphy being arrested for possession of Viagra without a prescription. You couldn't make this stuff up if you tried.

The players need to be allowed back into their respective training facilities for the fan's sake but also for their own good.

1. The Fans

Both the NFLPA and the NFL have stated that they have the best interests of the fans in mind. The NFL has shown this is not the case by refusing to open up their books for the past 10 years and choosing to lock out the players.

The NFLPA has shown us that they are not in it for the fans by choosing to de-certify and allowing this to enter the court systems.

Both sides are at fault and the best fans in the world deserve better. They have already been cheated of the feeding frenzy that is free agency, and they have missed mini-camps. Even worse, the thousands of fans that flock to their teams summer-camp location each year may miss out on that as well.

It is time for the madness to end. The NFL and the NFLPA both will end up making a lot of money, so the only people suffering at this point are the fans.

The same fans who pay the players' and owners' salaries.