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Did Donald Trump play football? What to know as POTUS attends Commanders v Lions
President Donald Trump, at the Commanders vs Lions match, becomes the first sitting US president to attend a regular season NFL game since 1978.
President Donald Trump is attending the Washington Commanders v Detroit Lions Sunday NFL game. He is the first sitting US president to attend a regular season game since 1978.
As per the league, the only other two times sitting presidents went for a game of football were Richard Nixon in 1969 and Jimmy Carter in 1978. Ahead of the game, Trump's Air Force One also did a flyby over the Northwest Stadium.
With Trump in attendance at the game, many are wondering if the President has played football.
Did President Trump play football?
Yes, President Donald Trump played football when he was at the New York Military Academy. He was a three-sport athlete there. Reportedly, Trump played for a year.
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However, he did not play any college football, and didn't play professionally. His childhood teammates were reportedly full of praise. “He was just the best, a good athlete, a great athlete,” former classmate Ted Levine had told Business Insider. “He could have probably played pro ball as a pitcher. I think he threw 80 miles an hour. I was the catcher. He made my hand black and blue every day. Could he play football? Could he play soccer? He could do anything he wanted. He was physically and mentally gifted,” he'd reportedly added.
Speaking about his football days at the Commanders v Lions game today, Trump said “I played tight end, but I mean it was not quite football like this... we had a quarterback who didn't have a very strong arm. I would say 10 yards was a long pass.”
Notably, Trump also bought New Jersey Generals American football team in 1983. It was part of the then-newly formed USFL. However, the league collapsed within two years.
When the President attends today's game, there are expectations from some sources that he might discuss the proposition of the new Washington Commanders stadium being named after him. ESPN reported citing sources that Trump wanted it to happen, and that discussions would take place today. He'd earlier urged the Commanders to change their name back to Redskins, which was done away with because it might have been offensive to some Native American groups.
