Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed is under scrutiny after resurfaced blog posts revealed his critical views on traditional masculinity and American sports culture. According to a report by The Midwesterner, El-Sayed authored a 2021 Substack post targeting football following the resignation of former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden over leaked emails.

In the post, El-Sayed described "the toxic masculinity at the heart of America’s most popular sport, and men’s sports culture more generally, is way deeper than a few emails or a Jay-Z turnaround." Drawing from his experience as a starting center at Andover High School, he stated that while he felt free on the field, "on the sidelines and in the locker room, I was fed a hefty dose of the worst kinds of racist taunting," adding that within men's sports, "racism, misogyny, and homophobia were lingua franca." He also accused the NFL of "deep-rooted racism."

El-Sayed urged coaches to abandon traditional toughness and instead emulate the lead character from the soccer comedy "Ted Lasso," praising the fictional coach because "Ted cries." In a separate 2021 Substack entry, he linked his sports preferences to his political views, writing, "European soccer also speaks to my politics. Compared to American sports leagues, the sport is also deeply egalitarian."

El-Sayed is set to face Republican Mike Rogers in the upcoming general election after narrowly defeating Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) in the primary.

Sources