Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, is taking heat after resurfaced writings exposed his sweeping attacks on traditional masculinity and U.S. sports culture.
According to a report by The Midwesterner, El-Sayed authored a 2021 Substack post taking aim at the gridiron in the wake of former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden’s resignation over leaked emails.
In the post, the progressive favorite laid out an aggressive critique of male sports culture, writing that “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.”
Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks after a radio appearance at Dr. Horace Sheffield’s GOTV Community Rally on Aug. 1, 2026, in Detroit, Mich. El-Sayed holds a 15-point lead against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) according to a recent poll. (Getty Images)
El-Sayed, who played high school football as a starting center at Andover High School, used his past experience to argue that traditional athletics breed bigotry. While noting he felt free on the field, El-Sayed claimed that “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 unloaded on the NFL directly, accusing the league of “deep-rooted racism.”
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Rather than leaning into classic athletic grit, the Democratic nominee pushed a soft-spoken, progressive rebrand of manhood centered on Hollywood fiction.
El-Sayed urged coaches to abandon traditional toughness and instead copy the lead character from the soccer comedy “Ted Lasso,” praising the fictional soccer coach because “Ted cries. He talks through his problems. He encourages his players. He bakes biscuits for his boss. He smiles … like, all the time.”
Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks to supporters at an election-night rally at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit, Mich., on Aug. 4, 2026. His race against U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in the state Democratic primary ended too close to call. (Getty Images)
His political theories on sports extend beyond American boundaries. In a separate 2021 Substack entry cited by The Midwesterner, El-Sayed explicitly tied his sports preferences to his far-left ideology, writing, “European soccer also speaks to my politics. Compared to American sports leagues, the sport is also deeply egalitarian.”
The resurfaced posts expose a massive gap between El-Sayed’s academic gender theories and his recent campaign trail efforts to build street cred with young male voters by bragging about his own high school wrestling and football history.
Now facing Republican Mike Rogers in the general election after narrowing out Rep. Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary, El-Sayed has some explaining to do to working-class Midwesterners who prefer football over progressive lecturing.
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Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaks before Sen. Bernie Sanders takes the stage at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026, in Detroit, Mich. Sanders is visiting the Midwest on his Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here tour. (Getty Images)
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