During the campaign season, Donald Trump is Nick Mangold’s quarterback.
The all-star New York Jets center introduced the GOP front-runner Saturday at a rally in Dayton, Ohio.
The seven-time Pro Bowler, who attended Ohio State and grew up in Dayton and nearby Kettering, is well known as a conservative: He campaigned with Mitt Romney in 2012 and donated to Gov. Chris Christie’s presidential bid.
He even spent a day as the billionaire’s “intern” on an episode of “Donald J. Trump’s Fabulous World of Golf” in 2011, during the NFL player lockout.
The bearded, shaggy-haired Mangold greeted his former boss with a bear hug on the podium as supporters shrieked.
He’s the latest New York sports star to jump on the Trump bandwagon, joining former Yankees Paul O’Neill and Johnny Damon. Mangold’s boss — Jets owner Woody Johnson — served as the finance chairman of the Jeb Bush campaign.