I had the story incomplete:
"From the beginning, USFL founder
David Dixon placed a premium on putting a team in the New York area. Initially,
Donald Trump was tapped to own the team. However,
he backed out after paying an initial installment on the franchise fee, hoping instead to buy the struggling Baltimore Colts of the NFL. Needing a credible owner with the means to front a team in the nation's biggest market, Dixon persuaded Oklahoma oil magnate
J. Walter Duncan to step in. Duncan had originally been slated to own the USFL's
Chicago franchise, as he'd grown up in Chicago. However, he readily agreed to shift to New York."
"At 66 years old, Duncan soon tired of flying as far as 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from his home in
Oklahoma City to see his team play. Believing that the Generals were far too important to the USFL to have an absentee owner, he decided to sell to a local buyer.
After the 1983 season, he found one in Donald Trump, who had initially angled for the franchise in 1982 before backing out.
[6]
Trump promptly fired Fairbanks. Seeking a high-profile coach, he initially tried to lure
Joe Gibbs of the
Washington Redskins.
[2] When those talks failed, he turned to legendary
Miami Dolphins coach
Don Shula. Trump offered him a $5 million contract. Shula was receptive, but insisted on getting a rent-free apartment at
Trump Tower. In October 1983, Trump announced that the deal was all but done, but the only snag was Shula's insistence on an apartment. A furious Shula broke off talks. Years later, former Dolphins' running back
Larry Csonka, by then an executive with the
Jacksonville Bulls, said that he believed Shula would have taken the job, but was angered at being "thrown out to the press" by Trump. After
Joe Paterno of
Penn State turned him down as well, Trump hired former
New York Jets head coach
Walt Michaels."
