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The New York Times’ Mark Leibovich argued that NFL owners are afraid of the president because he is unpredictable.
"A lot of the owners are cowering essentially at what Donald is going to do next," Leibovich said. He added that the protests anger many fans, and Wallace downplayed the importance of those fans.
"Who [is angry], other than the president and his supporters?" Wallace asked.
Leibovich assured Wallace that many were not on Kaepernick’s side because the NFL is "the most Republican and militaristic and patriotic" American sports league.
Hughley argued that it was not necessarily patriotism motivating Kaepernick’s critics, and then he said the NFL team owners are akin to slave owners.
"Patriotism is expressed by protest," Hughley said. "I'll say this. Look at the difference between the NFL and the NBA. If LeBron — you could never do that to LeBron James. The players are more in charge of the NBA. The NFL is more like actual slave owners. They are actually embedded more in that mentality."
Later, Hughley said he did not want to call it "slavery," but the panelists agreed that the NFL gets "disposable labor" from players.