Donald Trump's personalized jacket from his wild days as pro football team owner hits auction block

A white satin team jacket once owned by Donald Trump during his time as owner of the New Jersey Generals football team has gone up for auction.

The coat, featuring the Generals' red, white and blue colors, is being sold by Grey Flannel Auctions. At the time of writing, the listing has one bid worth $2,500.

As per the listing, the rare item dates back to the mid-1980s, when Trump was majority owner of the United States Football League (USFL) franchise.

The jacket features the Generals logo patch on the left breast and 'Trump' embroidered in red on the right. Inside the collar is an O'SHEA New Jersey label with a wash tag attached. The buttons show some rust, according to the listing.

Grey Flannel Auctions describes the piece as 'an original game-issued team jacket personally owned by Donald Trump during his tenure as owner of the New Jersey Generals.' 

The listing also notes that the jacket is 'properly marked and presented to us as an owner's jacket' and remains in excellent condition. 

Under Trump's ownership, the Generals went 14-4 in their first season and twice defeated the eventual champions, the Philadelphia Stars.

Trump only bought into the USFL after striking out in his effort to acquire the NFL's Baltimore Colts in 1983.

A year later, Trump had a reported chance to buy the Dallas Cowboys for just $50 million but declined, allowing Jerry Jones to acquire the franchise for $140 million later in the decade. Now the Cowboys rank as the most valuable team in sports with a $13 billion valuation from Forbes.

And Trump wasn't only using money to get an NFL team. He also tried using leverage, according to Jeff Pearlman's 2018 book, 'Football for a Buck: The Crazy Rise and Crazier Demise of the USFL'.

Launched in 1983, the USFL was a spring football league that boasted a surprising array of talent, including future Trump political ally Herschel Walker. 

One year into the league, Trump would buy Walker's team, the New Jersey Generals, which he'd own until the league went bust in 1986.

The USFL's abbreviated history is defined by several clear mistakes, like the decision to add six new franchises after a promising inaugural season in 1983. 

But perhaps the bigger misstep was choosing to move its season to the fall in 1985 and challenge the NFL directly – a decision that was influenced heavily by Trump.

'In the lead-up to buying the team, he was all about spring football and how great the league was, and, 'I love what the USFL is doing and blah blah blah,' Pearlman told DailyMail.com in 2018. 

'He gets approved as an owner, he buys the team, and immediately: 'We need to move to fall; we need to take on the NFL.'

'His big line was: 'If God wanted football in the spring, he wouldn't have invented baseball.'

According to interviews conducted by Pearlman, Trump's initial plan was to have the USFL fold and the NFL absorb the Generals as an expansion franchise.

However, during a meeting with then-NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle in New York City's Pierre Hotel in 1984, that plan was foiled.

'He basically said to Rozelle,' Pearlman explained, 'I don't really give a s*** about the USFL. I want an NFL team. What do I have to do to get in the NFL?'

'It was basically an offer to throw the USFL under the bus.'

Trump did not get the answer he was looking for.

'Rozelle said to him, 'As long as I'm the commissioner, you're never going to have a team,' Pearlman continued. 'He didn't trust him. He thought he was a scumbag. 

'He didn't say, 'I think you're a scumbag,' but Rozelle made his feelings toward Trump very well known. [Rozelle] also made them well known during the trial when he testified.'

Unable to pay its bills, the league folded before the 1986 season.

Bidding for Trump's jacket is open until November 16, according to Grey Flannel Auctions.