If you didn't make it past the first few series of Sunday night's Hall of Fame Game, you're forgiven: Even with the return of football, preseason action can be a bit hit or miss once the first-teamers are off the field.
But if you did tune out early — or failed to tune in at all — you missed a pretty interesting little nugget from NBC announcer Al Michaels, who passed on a coversation he had with prospective Buffalo Bills owner Donald Trump.
“He said he offered $1 billion — all cash, no contingencies, immediate closing. He’d have the check in one hour,” Michaels said, per Pro Football Talk. “He was a little miffed that it went out for bid again.”
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Sounds like Trump, right? He's a dealmaker, and he'll do whatever he can to sweeten the offer to get what he wants. He's also a master promoter, and he got in Michaels' ear, too.
As you might know, the Bills' ownership appears to be down to bids from three sources: Trump, a group led by rocker Jon Bon Jovi and also one from Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula.
What do Bills fans want? It was an emotional weekend for Bills fans, who watched Andre Reed get into the Hall of Fame, saw a cancer-battling Jim Kelly cheer him on and failed to watched the ceremonies without their former owner Ralph Wilson, who passed away this year. Their main desire has been to keep the team in Buffalo, and there is some serious anti-Bon Jovi sentiment in the air with fans believing he and his Toronto-based group will aim to move the club in a few years when they first are able.
There doesn't appear to be the same malignancy with Trump's bid, although some fans certainly have to worry about the possibility he too could seek relocation — especially with the tempting potential haunts of London and Los Angeles dancing in some NFL officials' heads.
But then again, what does the NFL and its owners want — and is Trump someone they'd approve? After all, any ownership group that purchases a franchise must then get the owners' seal of approval with yes votes from 24 of the other 31 member clubs.
It's true that Trump and the NFL for years have been at odds stemming from his antitrust lawsuit the former USFL owners filed against The Shield in the mid-1980s that cost the league a lot of headaches and billable hours. There also might be some owners who don't want an ego as big as Trump besmirching their reputation or image.
But with a wave of old-school owners having either passed away or passed on their ownership duties in the past few recent years, the majority of the NFL controlling parties were not in power when Trump took on the NFL. Does that mean that some blue-blooded owners won't dig in their heels against him? No, not at all. But it could grease the wheels a little easier.
Still, the strongest known bid to this point has come from Pegula, who has to be considered the favorite to land the team at this point, which is — we must note — still early in the process.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
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