Trump’s casual preseason picks quickly became a bigger NFL conversation because supporters and critics alike have attached superstition to his recent sports appearances. The real test, of course, starts when the 2026 season begins.
Donald Trump named the New England Patriots, New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams as teams he favored to reach Super Bowl 61 during the Patriot Games on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, weeks before the new NFL season. NFL fans reacted to the possibility that Trump’s picks could “curse” the three teams, turning a brief preseason prediction into a familiar online superstition debate.
Trump was not announcing an official forecast or making a wager. Still, his comments landed in a league where every endorsement, prediction and strange coincidence can become bulletin-board material — especially for teams already carrying very different expectations into the season.
Trump’s three Super Bowl picks
Speaking with ESPN’s Laura Rutledge at the Patriot Games, Trump said New England “looks good,” praised Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart and said the Rams were reportedly “looking very strong.” He also cautioned that getting too specific could get him “in trouble.”
The remarks amounted to a short list, not a full playoff bracket. But the combination was notable: the Patriots and Rams fit more neatly into a conventional contender conversation, while the Giants stand out as a more ambitious inclusion.
Trump said he would be watching how the season unfolds, emphasizing that the NFL has many good teams. That caveat has not stopped the picks from being treated as a preseason talking point.
Why Giants fans noticed most
The Giants are the most surprising team on Trump’s list based on the betting context cited by USA Today. BetMGM listed New York at +6600 to reach the Super Bowl, with 18 teams ahead of it in those odds.
That does not mean New York cannot make a run. Futures odds are a market snapshot, not a verdict, and every NFL season produces teams that exceed projections. Still, the Giants were not broadly positioned with the league’s top-tier favorites entering the year.
Trump’s reference to Dart may also explain why New York made the cut. Dart introduced Trump at a rally earlier in 2026, an appearance that prompted a minor public disagreement involving Giants teammate Abdul Carter before the two players later moved past it.
For Giants followers, then, the reaction was not simply about a presidential prediction. It touched an existing overlap between a young quarterback, team chemistry, politics and the outsized pressure on a franchise trying to improve its standing.
Patriots and Rams have cases
The Patriots come into the season after reaching Super Bowl 60, where they lost to the Seattle Seahawks. A recent Super Bowl appearance naturally puts New England in the group of teams people will watch closely, even though repeating that path is never automatic.
The Rams also have a stronger conventional case than the Giants. They entered the previous season among the teams discussed as possible Super Bowl contenders and reached the NFC championship game before losing to the eventual champions.
Neither team needs Trump’s endorsement to attract expectations. Their inclusion mostly reflects the basic preseason logic fans use every year: recent postseason performance, perceived roster strength and the belief that established organizations can remain in the hunt.
The unusual part is not that the Patriots and Rams were named. It is that a simple endorsement from Trump has been recast by some fans as something that could bring bad luck.
The “curse” is fan folklore
There is no evidence that a politician’s support can change a team’s results. The curse language is a joking, sometimes partisan form of sports superstition — a way of turning unrelated outcomes into a narrative.
USA Today pointed to several recent sports moments that have fed that narrative. The New York Knicks lost a 2026 NBA Finals game Trump attended, though they still won the championship. The U.S. men’s national team lost a World Cup knockout match after Trump weighed in on Folarin Balogun’s eligibility, and the United States lost the 2025 Ryder Cup after Trump attended its opening day.
Those examples can feel persuasive when viewed as a list, but they do not establish cause and effect. Sports outcomes turn on performance, preparation, health, coaching, matchups and chance — not on who appears at an event or names a favorite on television.
That distinction matters because “curse” talk can blur entertainment with analysis. Fans are free to enjoy the bit, but it should not be mistaken for a meaningful measure of the Patriots’, Giants’ or Rams’ chances.
Preseason predictions invite arguments
The louder reaction says as much about the NFL calendar as it does about Trump. In the weeks before games begin, fans have limited new results to debate, so comments from prominent figures can become stand-ins for actual football.
For supporters of the three clubs, there are competing ways to read the attention. Some may see the picks as harmless recognition; others may dislike being pulled into political conversation when they would rather focus on training camp, roster battles and the schedule.
There is also a practical football question underneath the jokes. Can New England build on its Super Bowl 60 run? Can Los Angeles convert contender status into another deep playoff push? And can New York outperform a skeptical betting market around Dart and the rest of its roster?
Trump’s list will not answer any of those questions. It has, however, supplied each fan base with an early-season storyline — one likely to resurface whenever the Patriots, Giants or Rams win big, stumble unexpectedly or simply become part of another NFL conversation.
What the picks actually mean
At face value, Trump’s comments were a personal assessment of three teams he plans to watch. They were not an NFL endorsement, a league projection or a claim that the clubs are guaranteed to reach Super Bowl 61.
The Patriots and Rams have recent results that make their inclusion understandable. The Giants are the bolder selection, particularly given their longer odds, and that is likely why the remark drew added scrutiny.
The rest is part of the ritual of modern sports fandom: a high-profile figure makes a prediction, fans turn it into a meme, and the season eventually decides whether the take looks insightful, misguided or irrelevant.
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