President Trump will attend the University of Texas vs. University of Tennessee college football game in Knoxville on Saturday, the White House confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday. The game will mark the first college football game Trump has attended since January's College Football Playoff National Championship when Indiana University…
Page S3From§Eachthe late evening edition — 26 September 2026
THE COUNT
Nine dispatches confirm Trump's flyover and cheers; none confirm votes for his college sports bill.
As it ran on the front
On Wednesday, September 23, the White House confirmed to The Hill that President Trump would attend the Texas-Tennessee football game in Knoxville. By Thursday, the Washington Examiner had the actual reason: the trip was a stage for the Protect College Sports Act, the bill Trump has been pushing Congress to pass. Twelve days earlier, on September 14, Sen. Ted Cruz told reporters he'd like that same bill signed by the President live on ESPN's College GameDay — a goal, he said, was not just to squeak by with 60 votes but to get a big number. Two days before that, on September 12, Cruz took questions from a raucous College GameDay crowd about the bill, whose closure vote had been delayed that month by the August recess.
Saturday arrived with nine reporters and one football game, and here is everything they confirmed. A flyover: Air Force One, timed over Neyland Stadium ahead of kickoff. A roaring welcome as Trump arrived. A beer special: fifty percent off, gates open early, fans lining up hoping — one told Fox — that the President stayed the whole game. A heckled reporter: Trump, boarding Air Force One, saying he wanted real news, not fake news, "like you." A nervous coaching staff, bracing for disruptions. Dead audio: ABC's broadcast dissolving into static exactly when it had been warned it might. A final score: Texas, five sacks and two Raleek Brown touchdowns clear of Tennessee. And, filed separately — while Trump was attending the game, not boarding the plane — a number: "we actually had 78 votes, if you can believe it," credited to Speaker Mike Johnson's handling of the House.…
…(cont) That's nine bylines. That's a flyover, two waves of cheering, a beer discount, a static-filled broadcast, a heckled reporter, a worried coaching staff, a final score, and a vote count. Recited, not checked. Not one of the nine asks whether 78 is the real number, where it came from, or whether Johnson can get it to the floor. The bill Cruz wanted signed on live television got a number, once, from the man asking everyone to believe it. Nobody in Knoxville had the assignment of checking it. They had a flyover to cover instead, and they covered it beautifully, from nine different angles, none of them the one where somebody counts.
“Nine reporters, one stadium, and the only number that mattered — the actual vote count on a bill about paying kids who play football — didn't make it into a single story, but the free flyover did. That's not access journalism, that's a broadcast booth with a press pass: the more of them you send, the less anybody has to answer for the math. You want to know if college athletes get paid, don't watch the cheering section, watch who never has to say the number out loud.”
“Look, the President said "we actually had 78 votes, if you can believe it" — and I do believe it, why wouldn't I, it's not like anyone in that press box had a whip count to check it against. That's not spin, that's just — okay, it's spin, but forty thousand people were cheering in that stadium, doesn't a full house count as a vote of confidence? Did I just say a football crowd is a substitute for a floor vote? That doesn't sound like me.”
The receipts
President Donald Trump vouched for the Protect College Sports Act while attending the University of Texas versus University of Tennessee college football game on Saturday, saying he thinks House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) can ensure its success in the lower chamber. “Mike Johnson’s fantastic. And we actually had 78 votes, if you can…
Trump arrived in Knoxville to a roaring Neyland Stadium crowd as the new-look Air Force One flew over ahead of the No. 14 Vols vs. No.
The Southeastern Conference matchup between the No. 1 Longhorns and No. 14 Volunteers in Knoxville is already one of the biggest games in the country this weekend.
Neyland Stadium opened its gates early with 50% off beer as Tennessee Vols fans gear up for the No. 1 Texas SEC showdown and Trump's arrival.
A huge Texas-Tennessee matchup had a little extra pageantry.
President Donald Trump is planning to attend the Texas vs. Tennessee college football game this Saturday, the White House confirmed to the Washington Examiner. The president’s appearance at the sports event comes as he continues pushing Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act.
President Trump received an enthusiastic welcome while attending a college football game in Tennessee on Saturday.
Texas silenced Neyland Stadium, as Colin Simmons recorded five sacks and Raleek Brown scored twice to beat Tennessee with President Donald Trump watching.
ABC's audio turned into a static-filled mess Saturday.
President Donald Trump fired back at a reporter Saturday before boarding Air Force One for the University of Tennessee vs. the University of Texas college football game. “I want real news, not fake news, like you,”
· Cruz: Trump should sign college sports bill live on ESPN's 'College GameDay' once passed from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
· Cruz faces rowdy crowd at College GameDay while promoting the Protect College Sports Act from the morgue, 12 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.