Most people my age (40ish) probably have some vague fuzzy memory that back in the late 80's there was a
second NFL. It arrived on the scene with a splash in the mid-80's, signing top college prospects like Herschel Walker and Steve Young. What people might not remember is that none other than Donald Trump was one of the leagues most prominent owners. And probably less well remembered is that Donald Trump himself is what burned that league to the ground.
Please see this article - it's old from when Trump last threatened to run for president back in 2011. It's an interview with the Filmmaker Mike Tollin who did an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about the USFL:
If you have time, I'd also encourage you to watch the ESPN documentary about the league:
As the film describes, the real reason Donald Trump became involved is that he wanted to be an NFL owner himself. The NFL was very skeptical of him, to their credit, and worked to prevent him from buying a team. That's when he bought a team in the USFL in order to set up a confrontation with the NFL.
Much like he has with the Republican Party, Donald Trump essentially took over the entire league. Up until Trump was involved, there was a bit of a truce where the NFL played in the fall and the USFL filled the empty sports calendar in the spring. Trump however, successfully lobbied the other owners to switch the USFL to a fall calendar, and drove them to compete directly for television. He did this in a bid to force his way into the NFL, thinking it would give him leverage in negotiating the purchase of a team. When that didn't work, he threw a tantrum, and brought an anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL. His lawsuit was successful and the USFL was awarded $1 in damages. That's not a typo, the king of suing people literally took home a $1 check for damages won against the NFL. After this costly confrontation with the NFL the league folded and Trump went on to "win" at other things like Reality Television. But the real lesson here is that Trump had no problem burning the USFL to the ground when he didn't get his way.
I think we all know that Donald Trump has a massive ego. Too massive to describe in one diary. And that ego is what keeps him from accepting defeat with any kind of grace or magnanimity. He'd rather see the world burn than be portrayed as a loser himself. I think the USFL - NFL fight is a great example of this and can really give us an idea what will happen when the establishment Republicans try to snatch the nomination out from under him at the Republican Convention.
Donald Trump’s run for president is all about Donald Trump and Donald Trump alone. He couldn’t give a shit who is elected president if it isn't himself. He'd rather see the Republican Party implode, much like the USFL, then he not get his way at the convention this summer. It's mind boggling to me that those on the right don't seem to realize this and are openly discussing how they can screw him out of the nomination. But as they say, never interrupt your opponent when he is making a mistake.
Trump may not be great at building anything of value, but he has shown a knack for destroying things. And I think we are witnessing that in real time with the Republican Party.
