Multiple news outlets are reporting that U.S. District Court Judge Susan Nelson has granted a motion by NFL players for an injunction, effectively ending the owner-imposed 2011 NFL Lockout. Further, and more noteworthy: an NFL Network report indicates that Judge Nelson did not stay the decision, which will send the owners to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The league's request for a stay must first go to Judge Nelson.
The short version of this story: football is not back yet. The longer version: the immediate questions are whether or not the Eighth Circuit will grant the owners' request for a stay, effectively re-instituting the lockout, or if that stay is denied, how soon rules will be in place to govern the new league year.
This is not over, but NFL business does not appear as if it will resume imminently. ESPN's Andrew Brandt predicts an Eighth Circuit ruling within a day or two, and at that point, we should know more about the business of football in the immediate future. Brandt also noted that the owners have a good chance of seeing their request granted in the Eighth Circuit.