President Donald Trump's comments about sports have been among the most bombastic of his time in office.
He called NFL players who kneel during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice "sons of bitches" who needed to be "fired." He implied that LeBron James isn't smart.
He often takes to Twitter to poke at leagues for low TV ratings. He recently lobbied for Big Ten football's return.
It seems no other president has so frequently weighed in on sports _ at least not so derisively.
"It is unusual," said Fred Frommer, author of "You Gotta Have Heart," a history of Washington baseball. "The closest the president often gets in taking a side is saying his favorite team. You don't see presidents taking sides on cultural issues. But (with Trump) it's sticking with a philosophy of being more divisive."
Yet Trump is far from the first to meddle in athletics from the Oval Office.
Dating to Theodore Roosevelt's successful bid to save college football and including Bill Clinton's unsuccessful 1995 White House meeting between conflicting sides of a baseball strike, U.S. presidents commonly delve into sports. Sometimes they're ruled by passion, sometimes for political gain.
"Presidents and all politicians see sports as a great platform," Frommer said. "A great chunk of Americans are sports fans. It can be sort of a no-lose for presidents if they take an issue where fans will be on their side."
