When the clock strikes 11:59 p.m. eastern standard time, 9:59 p.m. Arizona time, Thursday night it might as well be the speedometer of a DeLorean that reads 88 miles-an-hour. That’s because at that moment, if no new collective bargaining agreement has been reached, the National Football League will be transported back to somewhere it hasn’t been since 1987, the middle of a work stoppage.

While the circumstances are drastically different this time around, the premise is the same. A disagreement between players and owners will mean that professional football, at least the kind America religiously watches, will be placed on hold until the disagreement is settled.

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