Michigan Dem Senate nominee comes under fire over resurfaced blog post linking football to 'toxic masculinity'

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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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