Stephen A. Smith’s whirlwind tour of seemingly every television show imaginable recently reached CNN, where he sat down with Jake Tapper.
During the conversation, Smith weighed in on Donald Trump’s failed 2014 bid to purchase the Buffalo Bills, reminiscing about a time when Trump had a much friendlier relationship with the sports media.
However, according to New York Times best-selling author Jeff Pearlman, none of what Smith said, claiming that Trump’s failed attempt to buy the Bills directly led to his presidential ambitions, is true.
“In 2014, Donald Trump wanted to purchase the Buffalo Bills,” said Smith. “The price tag was about $1.4 billion. According to my sources, he had about $1.1 billion. And he called me to talk to me about his desire to own the Buffalo Bills. It’s the last time we ever spoke. And he said to me … He said, talking about the NFL owners, ‘If them MFers get in my way, I’m going to get ’em all back. I’m gonna run for President.”
That version of events, however, contradicts what has been well-documented by Trump’s former fixer, Michael Cohen. According to Cohen, Trump never had any real intention of becoming president — his campaign was about marketing himself, growing his brand, and increasing his wealth and influence.
“Mr. Trump would often say this campaign was going to be the greatest infomercial in political history,” Cohen said in 2019 via The Hill. “He never expected to win the primary. He never expected to win the general election. The campaign for him was always a marketing opportunity.”
As was his failed bid to buy the Buffalo Bills, says Pearlman.
@jeffpearlmanauthor Stephen A. Smith’s Donald Trump-Buffalo Bills NFL story is pure nonsense. Like, not even slightly true. #stephenasmith #donaldtrump #buffalobills #nfl #usfl #writersoftiktok ♬ original sound – Jeff Pearlman
“First of all, that’s ridiculous. Like that’s actually a ridiculous story, and I don’t believe him,” Pearlman said. “I actually think Stephen A. Smith is making up this story. No. 1, ‘According to my source, he had about $1.1 billion.’ For my USFL book (“Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL”), I researched a lot about Trump and football, including his efforts to, at one point, he decided not to buy the Dallas Cowboys because he didn’t think it would be a good investment. He looked briefly into buying the Baltimore Colts before the Irsay family moved them to Indianapolis.
“And he also put up a fraud effort to get the Bills — that was just for attention. It was total nonsense. He didn’t have the money. It wasn’t a serious bid. Everyone with the Bills knew it wasn’t a serious bid. The reigning owners knew it wasn’t a serious bid. He didn’t have the financial backing. I don’t know, Stephen A. Smith, I want to ask you this directly — not that he watches this — but why are you protecting your ‘sources’ on how much money he had? So, who told you he had that much money? Because that’s utterly, utterly preposterous. He did not have $1.1 billion at his disposal. Period.”
“Either your source is him, and he’s full of sh*t, which is probably the case,” Pearlman continued. “Or, this is just nonsense. I’m sorry. There was never a realistic chance of Donald Trump buying the Buffalo Bills. Never, ever, ever. He wanted the attention. His goal when he was in the USFL was to get a team in Manhattan… He bought the New Jersey Generals from J. Walter Duncan. The plan was, hopefully, to get them absorbed in the NFL. The Jets had moved to Jersey; the Giants were in Jersey. They could go play in Shea [Stadium] and then build a stadium in Manhattan — that was his plan.”
Pearlman claims that Trump never wanted a team in Buffalo.
“He didn’t want to be based in Buffalo,” says Pearlman. “He had no interest in that. I mean, come on, man, just f*cking do your research. What are you [doing]? Honestly, just do your research. It doesn’t take that long. This actually bothers me. You know I’m not a big fan of Stephen A. Smith. It’s not because I don’t respect his longevity — I actually do. It’s because this is bullsh*t. Like, this is bullsh*t. This is not journalism. Who the f*ck uses ‘my sources?’ You don’t have any.”
Pearlman’s argument here boils down to the fact that, based on his extensive research, Trump’s failed bid for the Bills was never serious and that Smith’s version of events is completely detached from reality.
Pearlman suggests that Smith’s story may have been based on misinformation, possibly even from Trump himself. At the very least, he believes Smith was misled by his sources. Either way, Pearlman’s stance is that Trump was never a serious contender for the Bills, and the idea that his failed bid set him on the path to the White House is nothing more than a myth.
