A presidential first: Trump at the Super Bowl, latest chapter in a complicated legacy with football

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As a student, Donald Trump played high school football. As a business baron, he owned a team in an upstart rival to the NFL and then sued the established league. As president, he denigrated pros who took a knee during the national anthem as part of a social justice movement.

He added to that complicated history with the sport on Sunday by becoming the first president in office to attend a Super Bowl.

After flying from Florida to New Orleans, the Republican president met with participants in the honorary coin toss after he arrived at the Superdome, including relatives of victims of a deadly New Year’s Day terrorist attack in the historic French Quarter, members of the police department and emergency personnel.

Trump’s appearance at the Caesars Superdome to see the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles follows the NFL’s decision to remove the “End Racism” slogans that have been stenciled on the end zones since 2021.

Trump recently ordered the cancellation of programs that encourage diversity, equity and inclusion across the federal government and some critics see the league's decision as a response to the Republican president's action. But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league's diversity policies are not in conflict with the Trump administration’s efforts to end the federal government's DEI programs.

Trump, who attended the Super Bowl in 1992, thinks the Chiefs will win, with Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes the difference-maker.

“I guess you have to say that when a quarterback wins as much as he’s won, I have to go with Kansas City,” Trump said in a taped interview with Fox News Channel's Bret Baier that aired during the pregame show. Trump said Mahomes “really knows how to win. He’s a great, great quarterback.”

The president played football as a student at the New York Military Academy. As a New York businessman in the early 1980s, he owned the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League. Trump had sued to force a merger of the USFL and the NFL. The USFL eventually folded.

Friction existed between Trump and the NFL during his first term as president.

Trump took issue with players kneeling during the national anthem to protest social or racial injustice. That movement began in 2016 with then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during “The Star-Spangled Banner” during an exhibition game in Denver.

Trump, through social media and other public comments, insisted that players stand for the national anthem and he called on team owners to fire anyone who took a knee.

“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, you’d say, ’Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He’s fired,'” Trump said to loud applause at a rally in Hunstville, Alabama, in 2017.

Trump watched Sunday's game from a suite after flying in with a group of some of his closest Republican allies in Congress, including Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott of South Carolina. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had said he'd also be in the suite with the president. Trump saluted when the national anthem was sung. Mahomes' family stopped by to visit with him.

His interest in sports extends beyond football. Trump is an avid golfer who owns multiple golf courses and has hosted tournaments. He sponsored boxing matches at his former casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and attended a UFC match at Madison Square Garden weeks after winning a second term.

Trump played golf with Tiger Woods on Sunday in Florida, the White House said.

Some NFL team owners have donated to his campaigns and Trump maintains friendships with Herschel Walker and Doug Flutie, who played for the Generals. Trump endorsed Walker's unsuccessful bid as the Republican candidate for a U.S. Senate seat from Georgia in 2022, and has tapped him to become ambassador to the Bahamas.

Trump signed an order last week that is intended to block transgender women and girls from competing in women's sports by targeting federal funding for schools that fail to comply.

In a statement before the game, Trump said the coaches, players and staff for the Chiefs and Eagles “represent the hopes and dreams of our Nation’s young athletes as we restore safety and fairness in sports and equal opportunities among their teams.”

Alvin Tillery, a politics professor and diversity expert at Northwestern University, said in an interview that the NFL's decision to remove “End Racism” slogans was “shameful” given that the league “makes tens of billions of dollars largely on the bodies of Black men.”

He said the NFL should explain who it was aiming to please. The NFL said it was stenciling “Choose Love” in one of the end zones for the Super Bowl to encourage the country after a series of tragedies so far this year, including a New Year's Day truck attack in the host city of New Orleans that killed 14 people and injured dozens more.

Tillery wasn't convinced. “I think they removed it because Trump's coming," he said.

President Donald Trump watches play during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

President Donald Trump, center, salutes as Jon Batiste performs the national anthem at the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Lara Trump, from left, New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson, President Donald Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and Ivanka Trump's son Theodore watch from a suite prior to the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson, from left, President Donald Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and Ivanka Trump's son Theodore watch from a suite prior to the NFL Super Bowl 59 football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

President Donald Trump, left, waves as he boards Air Force One with grandson Theodore, Ivanka Trump's son, at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

The motorcade of President Donald Trump arrives at the Trump International Golf Club, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

President Donald Trump leaves from Mar-a-Lago, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

President Donald Trump waves after arriving on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla., Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

FILE - Doug Flutie, the New Jersey Generals newly-signed quarterback, talks to reporters during a news conference in New York, Feb. 6, 1985, after he was signed by the team's owner, Donald Trump, right, for four years at approximately $7 million. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler, File)

FILE - New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, right, listen as President Donald Trump speaks during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, April 19, 2017, where the president honored the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots for their Super Bowl LI victory. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

FILE - Donald Trump shakes hands with Herschel Walker in New York after agreement on a 4-year contract with the New Jersey Generals USFL football team, March 8, 1984. (AP Photo/Dave Pickoff, File)

MONTREAL (AP) — After receiving their first wake-up call of the playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes have responded like the beasts of the East they have been all season.

Following a loss to open the Eastern Conference Final, the Hurricanes have won back-to-back games in overtime to take a 2-1 lead against Montreal in the best-of-seven series. They look like their old selves again, and it has them two games from reaching to the Stanley Cup Final.

“We’re feeling good about playing hockey again,” said winger Taylor Hall, who scored his fourth goal this postseason in Game 3 on Monday night. “Now the game is starting to slow down, and you’re making reads without even having to think about it.”

That spells trouble for the Canadiens, who registered just two shots on goal combined over the third period and OT. Carolina has outshot Montreal 64-26 over the past two games.

“They throw a lot to the net, so they’re going to outshoot you,” said Montreal's Cole Caufield, who scored 51 goals during the regular season. “I think everybody that plays them knows that, and you can’t look at it that way — that they kind of tilt the ice that much.”

Shot volume is something the Hurricanes have done consistently in the eight years since coach Rod Brind'Amour took over. What has changed in this series is preventing the young, skilled Canadiens from generating offense.

“You need everything working against a team like that,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “I don’t think you can just rely on the power play.”

Caufield chalked up his team's struggles to Carolina's pace and aggressive play. That the brand of hockey Brind'Amour wants to play.

“It’s putting the stress on them,” defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere said. “It’s a hard system for us to play sometimes because you’ve got to be on your toes. You’re always skating. But you can see it’s pretty effective, and it’s probably not the best to play against.”

It did not look at all right in Game 1 last week, which the Canadiens won 6-2 after getting off to a hot start, finding long breakout passes and staying patient in solving Carolina's relentless forecheck to hand the Hurricanes their first loss of the playoffs.

“It’s definitely a turning point for us: a little adversity,” Gostisbehere said. “Having two sweeps the first two rounds — not a lot of adversity in that sense. For us, it was a good kick in the teeth.”

The Hurricanes are now as close to the final as they've been during this run of success under Brind'Amour, which included getting swept twice and losing in five games in their three previous trips to the East final. This spring, they are 5-0 on the road and 5-0 in overtime thanks to a consistent approach.

“We try to play our game home and away,” first-line center Sebastian Aho said. “The game’s the same, I feel like. Obviously the environment is a little bit different, whether you’re home or away. But I feel like the game stays the same.”

Game 4 at Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday night is Carolina's first chance to move to the verge of making the final. The Canadiens feel like they have another level to get to, and they need to find it quickly.

"We didn’t expect this to be easy, and we’re OK with that," St. Louis said. “There’s not one thing. We have to put it all together. You’re at this stage right now, you have to put it all together. Execution’s part of that. Jam is part of that. There’s not one thing. We’ve just got to put it all together, and I know we can.”

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) and Andrei Svechnikov (37) celebrate in front of Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen (31) after the winning goal by Aho in overtime of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens in Montreal, Monday, May 25, 2026. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Carolina Hurricanes' Andrei Svechnikov celebrates his goal with teammates after an overtime period of Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference final Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens, in Montreal, Monday, May 25, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP) CORRECTION: Corrected the scorer to Andrei Svechnikov

Carolina Hurricanes' Sebastian Aho (20) reacts after the teammate Andrei Svechnikov scored on Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) as teammate Juraj Slafkovsky (20) looks on during an overtime period of Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference final Stanley Cup playoff series in Montreal, Monday, May 25, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP) CORRECTION: Corrected the scorer to Andrei Svechnikov