Since Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys for $140 million in 1989, he’s overseen the team grow into the most valuable franchise in the NFL, valued at over $8 billion.
But there was a time when former U.S. President Donald Trump could have added the Cowboys to his portfolio. According to Front Office Sports, Trump had the opportunity to buy the team for $50 million back in 1983. Trump declined.
Instead, Trump invested his money into the United States Football League, taking the New Jersey Generals as his team and helping to oversee the league before it folded in 1985. At the time though, Trump had harsh words for anyone interested in taking the deal he turned down:
“I feel sorry for the poor guy who is going to buy the Cowboys… he’ll be known to the world as a loser,” Trump said.
Naturally, fans are having a good laugh at the irony of those words:
When Jerry Jones took over the Cowboys in 1989, he was taking over a team that had long-since lost its way as a winning franchise. One of his first orders of business was the still-controversial decision to fire head coach Tom Landry and install Jimmy Johnson instead.
There were growing pains at first, namely the 1-15 season that remains one of the worst seasons in NFL history. But within three years of Jones taking over they were back in the playoffs and within seven years they were three time Super Bowl champions.
Jerry Jones might not have taken as many trips to the White House as Donald Trump did, but his legacy as one of the NFL’s all-time greats is already secured.
As for Trump, his legacy in pro football is the failure of the USFL and being repeatedly snubbed by Super Bowl championship winners as President of the United States.