In case you missed it, Mike Freeman had a fascinating piece on Bleacher Report yesterday on the NFL’s racial divide when it comes to Donald Trump. From the article:
As people who read this site probably know, I’ve been working on a book about the United States Football League, the long-defunct NFL rival that existed from 1983-85. The New Jersey Generals were owned by Trump, and he is—almost universally—credited (or, I suppose, discredited) for ruining the league via greed and limited insights into the future of professional sports. White, black, owner, player, general manager cheerleader—it matters not. Of the 417 people I’ve now interviewed, I’d say, oh, 95 percent say Trump caused the USFL’s downfall.
But here’s the fascinating part, as it pertains to Mike’s B/R story: Of those 417, I’ve probably discussed the 2016 presidential election with, oh, 180. Maybe 200. And I have yet to speak with a single African-American USFL veteran who plans on voting for Trump. I mean, literally, I know of not one black person who emerged from the league and will back The Donald. However, a solid 80-to-90 percent of whites are voting for Trump. They include Jerry Argovitz, the owner of the Houston Gamblers, and Jerry Sklar, general manager of the Birmingham Stallions. Both of those men criticized Trump for what transpired 30 years ago—but just can’t get themselves to vote Democrat (or, perhaps, merely Hillary Clinton). Jerry, a nice man who has been quite helpful, has even sent out a handful of pro-Trump e-mails.
It’s fascinating and sort of depressing.
But it is what it is.
