One topic that was discussed amongst the SB Nation football bloggers this weekend was this article from Pro Football Talk:
We’re hearing initial rumblings pointing to the possibility that a loss by the league at the appellate level will prompt the owners to completely shut down all business operations until the players agree to a new labor deal. The thinking is that, if the owners cease all operations, the NFL would not be violating the court order because there would be no lockout. Instead, the league essentially would be going out of business.
So that's a bit crazy: if the owners don't like what players are asking, they'll shut down their multi-billion dollar business and get nothing.
But the owners do feel they have to win in this battle over the players. I'm not exactly sure what the every owner's definition of "win" is, but Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, who has as much clout on the owners' side as anyone in this labor battle, said they have to "take back their league." From Michael Silver back in September 2010:
At last March’s NFL owners meeting in Orlando, Fla., the Carolina Panthers’ Richardson gave a fiery speech in which he exhorted his peers to "take back our league" by forcing a more favorable deal down the throats of the players.
QB Aaron Rodgers described the owners as "comatose" and they still haven't woken up. Or maybe the owners are right, and the players will blink first in this game of chicken.