The soon-to-be 47th President of the United States’ connection to the NFL just got a little bit deeper.
President-elect Donald Trump named Susie Wiles his chief of staff on Thursday for when he takes the Oval Office in January after she helped lead Trump’s campaign to victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Election Day.
Wiles’ appointment means that Trump’s administration can count the daughter of legendary NFL broadcast Pat Summerall among its ranks.
Summerall was a household name for football fans for decades, having called 16 Super Bowls and being part of the broadcast duo alongside another football legend, John Madden.
Before his play-by-play ays, he was a kicker, playing with the Lions, Cardinals and Giants over a 10-year career in pro football.
Summerall was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2010 after he was honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994 with the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award.
Summerall passed away at the age of 82 in 2013.
Wiles has taken a different course than her father and has become an influential figure as a Republican strategist.
“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again,” Trump said in a statement on Thursday.
Along with the connection to Summerall, there have been plenty of football fans — specifically Jets fans — wondering if Trump’s victory means that Jets owner Woody Johnson would be headed for some sort of role in the new administration.
Some inside the Jets organization had felt there was a strong possibility that Johnson would leave again if Trump won the election, The Post’s Brian Costello reported this week.
Johnson had served as the U.S. ambassador to the U.K. for 3 ½ years during the first Trump administration.
His brother Christopher oversaw the organization while he was adhering to his duties as ambassador.
