Donald Trump unloaded on the National Football League on Saturday night in Alabama.

In a single three-minute stretch of a longer speech, Trump encouraged NFL team owners to fire “son of a bitch” NFL players who kneel during the national anthem (“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired. He’s fired!'”); mocked the NFL for declining TV ratings and said the cause is himself (“NFL ratings are down massively… The number one reason happens to be that they like watching what’s happening with yours truly”); ridiculed NFL referees, whom he says are calling too many penalties for hard hits (“They’re ruining the game”); and urged fans to walk out of NFL games if players protest during the anthem (“If you see it, even if it’s one player, leave the stadium. I guarantee things will stop”).

But the president’s hostility toward the NFL dates back to 1986, a fact many American sports fans have forgotten over the years.

Trump, then the Republican nominee, tours the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, Sept. 14, 2016. (Reuters) More

Trump bought a USFL team, then sued the NFL

The United States Football League (USFL) launched in 1983 as a fledgling, 12-team pro league that played in spring and summer, as opposed to the NFL, which played in fall and winter. It did not originally intend to compete directly with the NFL.

Until Trump came into the picture.

In 1983, after the USFL’s inaugural season, a number of wealthy business people bought franchises, expanding it from 12 to 18 teams. Trump was among them — he purchased the New Jersey Generals from Oklahoma oil-and-gas executive J. Walter Duncan for a reported $9 million (Trump has since said that he only paid $5 million). Trump spent a lot on recruiting stars like Doug Flutie to make the Generals better and tried (but failed) to woo NFL coach Don Shula with an offer of $1 million per year.

And then Trump led a group of owners in suing the NFL. The idea was to move the USFL to the fall in order to compete with the NFL and, ideally, force a merger. But the NFL had all the big television contracts wrapped up. So the USFL sued the NFL for anti-trust, seeking $1.7 billion.

Trump and the other USFL owners won on the merits. But the jury awarded them just $1. (The USFL appealed, and four years later the US Supreme Court upheld the $1 judgment; with interest, the final award came to $3.76.) The costly and embarrassing lawsuit killed the USFL, which was already financially stretched and didn’t have the audience to justify the costs. The league never held a fourth season.

Trump has repeatedly used the NFL as a political tool

Since then, Trump has repeatedly targeted the NFL on social media — beginning long before he was a presidential candidate.

In 2013, Trump tweeted that the NFL banning helmet-to-helmet contact (an attempt to cut down on concussions) was “the beginning of the end.”

The NFL has just barred ball carriers from using helmet as contact. What is happening to the sport? The beginning of the end. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2013





Later that year, he criticized President Barack Obama for giving an opinion on the Redskins name controversy. Trump said, “Our country has far bigger problems… focus on them,” an ironic criticism given the amount of time that Trump, as president, has now devoted to discussing the NFL.

President should not be telling the Washington Redskins to change their name-our country has far bigger problems! FOCUS on them,not nonsense — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2013





Trump tried to buy Buffalo Bills and didn’t get the team

In 2014, after Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson died, Trump entered a bid for the team. After a six-month bidding process, Terry and Kim Pegula, owners of the Buffalo Sabres, got the team for a reported $1.4 billion. (Trump later told Sports Illustrated he doubted that reported price: “He bought it for a billion-two, I believe, although they say it was a billion-four.”)