Trump Wants To Buy Buffalo Bills

Another high profile name is on the list of potential new owners of the Buffalo Bills: Donald Trump.

Donald Trump (Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

The former owner of the USFL's New Jersey Generals tells the Buffalo News he will "give it a heavy shot" and would keep the Bills in Buffalo.

The Donald admits his interest in keeping the team in place is for selfish reasons. "I live in New York, and it's easier for me to go to Buffalo than any other place," Trump confessed. "Where am I going to move it, some place on the other side of the country, where I have to travel for five hours?"

WBEN reports that Trump was approached by some potential buyers. "I heard about it last week. A group of people called me and asked 'would I be interested in investing', and I'll take a look at it," he told the radio station. He noted that he is friendly with former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly and his family is staying at one of his apartments in Manhattan while he receives cancer treatments.

Trump believes that he earned the respect of NFL owners when he owned the Generals in the 80s when he pushed the league to move their season from the spring to fall. "I think the NFL owners respected me for it because I took a dead league and made it hot, But my thing when I bought the team was, 'I will not play football in the spring.'" Others believe that move led to the USFL's demise since it pushed salaries higher.

Jon Bon Jovi, another former football team owner, is repoted to be part of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, another group interested in buying the Bills.The former oiwner of the Arena Football League's Philadelphia Soul would be the "face" of the group as they make their bid. Many in Buffalo, however, are concerned that the group would move the Bills to Toronto or Los Angeles.

Mary Wilson is taking over as the Buffalo Bills’ controlling owner after the death on March 25 of her husband, Ralph Wilson. He founded the Bills when the American Football League began play in 1960 and was a major factor in the merger of the AFL and NFL that was completed in 1970.