Sports

Where do Travis Kelce and George Kittle fit in among the great NFL tight ends?

Published

2 years ago

February 6, 2024

This Super Bowl showdown between Travis Kelce of the Chiefs and George Kittle of the 49ers is a clash of styles.

It’s Kelce’s tight fade versus Kittle’s straggly, anyone-know-a-good-barber? look.

Kittle’s pregame routine includes meditation, visualization and a salt bath. Kelce spends three hours selecting what he will wear.

Kelce pulls up in a Rolls-Royce Ghost, whereas it’s a classic Mustang for Kittle.

They are as different as Heath Ledger (Kittle has a tattoo of him) and Chris Farley (Kelce watches his movies repeatedly).

Kelce is a Burger King Whopper kind of guy; Kittle goes for the orange chicken at Panda Express.

And there’s more.

The opposing tight ends come from different branches of the same tree.

Kelce, with his confounding feel for understanding football’s intersections of time and space, is the representative of the receiving branch.

Kittle, the hit man who gives defensive ends tastes of turf, comes from the blocking branch, or perhaps we should call it the two-way branch.

Appropriately, Kittle is the son of a one-time left tackle and offensive line coach. That is not to say he catches as if he’s wearing boxing gloves, however. He once had 210 receiving yards in a game. Kittle led NFL tight ends in receiving yards this season — it was his third 1,000-yard season.

George Kittle goes for 58 yards!
📺: #BALvsSF on ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/pkwa8SXokx pic.twitter.com/XPez8PpqDD
— NFL (@NFL) December 26, 2023

In 2018, he had 1,377 yards, which was the most by a tight end in NFL history. Two years later, Kelce outdid him by 39 yards. Since Kittle came into the league in 2017, Kelce is the only tight end with more receiving yards.

Kelce has seven 1,000-yard receiving seasons — more than any tight end ever (he missed his eighth this season by 16 yards after sitting out the regular-season finale). In his career, he has averaged 71.2 receiving yards per game — highest among all tight ends.

Without Kelce’s 11 catches for 116 yards against the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, the Chiefs are not in Las Vegas this week. And without Kittle’s 1,020 receiving yards during the regular season, the 49ers might be sitting this one out, too.

More than an opportunity to buy squares and dip wings, Super Bowl LVIII is a forum to consider Kittle, Kelce and their places among the greatest of tight ends.

Travis Kelce, left, has more 1,000-yard seasons than any tight end in NFL history, but George Kittle led the league’s tight ends in receiving yards this season. (Kevin Terrell / Associated Press)

Football’s first tight end was supposed to be a linebacker.

At least that’s what many teams thought. But Bears coach George Halas, head scout George Allen and assistant coach Luke Johnsos saw something in Mike Ditka that no one else did. They selected him and invented a new position, moving him a few yards from the offensive tackle on the line of scrimmage so he could have a two-way release, inside or outside the pressing defender.

Ditka caught 56 passes for 1,076 yards and 12 touchdowns, averaged 19.2 yards per catch and was named the league’s rookie of the year. He wasn’t fast by today’s tight end standards, but he could get open with physicality and was as difficult to tackle as any player ever. What’s more, he set a standard for blocking.

“You had to watch him for 60 minutes because he’d take your head off,” Hall of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones told NFL Films.

“Ditka defined the position,” says Hall of Fame general manager Ron Wolf, who scouted Ditka in person in the early 1960s.

In the 1963 championship game, the Bears trailed the Giants 10-7 late in the third quarter and faced a third-and-9 on the Giants’ 15 when Johnsos suggested Halas call “Ditka Special,” in which Ditka ran a shallow crossing route. Ditka caught the pass just past the line of scrimmage and took it to the Giants’ 1. The Bears scored the winning touchdown on the next play.

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That same season, John Mackey made his debut for the Colts. For most of his time at Syracuse, Mackey was a fullback who blocked for Heisman winner Ernie Davis. But as a senior, he led his team in receiving. Colts coach Don Shula envisioned another Ditka, and Mackey subsequently averaged 20.7 yards per reception as a rookie and became the second great tight end.

“Mackey had a little more speed than Ditka,” says Dale Lindsey, who played against both as a linebacker with the Browns and Saints and later coached in the NFL for 21 years. “In coverage, Mackey gave you more problems. But he wasn’t as physical as Mike was. In the running game, Mike was head and shoulders above everybody else — a tough, physical guy.”

In a move that would have momentous implications for the tight end position, Steelers coach Chuck Noll hired former Georgia Tech coach Bud Carson as a defensive backs coach in 1972, then promoted him to defensive coordinator the following season. Carson brought the Cover 2 defense to the NFL, which made the middle of the field vulnerable to attack. Offensive minds looked for ways to counter with players who could exploit the open spaces in the zone defense.

Dave Casper had been an All-America offensive tackle at Notre Dame in 1972. The following year, he was an All-America tight end. Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis chose him in the second round in 1974 and helped Casper become a tight end who made legendary plays.

“They lined him up on the left side with Art Shell and Gene Upshaw and ran every play to the left,” says one-time NFL defensive back, Hall of Fame coach and NBC commentator Tony Dungy, who played against Casper. “They didn’t care if you knew it. Dave became what everybody was looking for, a guy you could run behind on third-and-1 and also outrun a safety and make the catch to win the game.”

But the Steelers were having so much success with Carson’s Cover 2 that the NFL made a change in 1978 to try to help offenses. The “Mel Blount rule” limited contact between defenders and receivers to the 5-yard area just beyond the line of scrimmage. Before 1978, defenders could jostle receivers all the way downfield without penalty.

For offenses, this was seismic, and an opportunity for innovation.

At 6 foot 2 and maybe 215 pounds, Ozzie Newsome was a big wide receiver at Alabama. He wasn’t big enough to be a tight end in the way Ditka, Mackey and Casper were, but Newsome could run and catch like few before him or since. With the Browns, he became a different kind of tight end, and when Newsome retired 13 years later, he was the all-time-leading tight end receiver.

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The year after Newsome entered the league, San Diego Chargers coach Don Coryell and offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs were looking for an explosive playmaker who could create matchup problems. They found one like no other when they drafted Kellen Winslow in 1979.

“Gibbs and Coryell said, ‘If I have that talent, why leave him at the tight end position?’” Dungy says. “‘I’ll move him and create mismatches.’ So Winslow did everything Ozzie did, but he lined up as a tight end, a wide receiver, in the backfield and in the slot. He was hardly ever asked to block.”

Winslow led the NFL in receptions twice and finished second and third in two other years.

“He was the first big, athletic guy who could run, jump, block,” says former Commanders coach Ron Rivera, who played against Winslow as a Chicago linebacker. “And he had really good hands.”

Tony Gonzalez led a new wave of athletic tight ends in the 1990s, many of them with basketball backgrounds. (Photo by Al Tielemans / Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

After Winslow, the emphasis became more on versatility and less on physicality. In 1990, the Denver Broncos drafted a small-school wide receiver in the seventh round and made him a tight end. Shannon Sharpe became a latter-day Newsome and was the first tight end to have 10,000 receiving yards.

Tight ends up to that point got open mostly with speed, size or scheming. Then came a wave of players — Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham among them — who got open with savvy. Each of the aforementioned had a basketball background.

According to Tyler Dunne’s book, “The Blood and Guts: How Tight Ends Saved Football,” Gonzalez didn’t run routes like most. Instead of exploding out of his stance, he slow-played the defender until he got near him, then created separation with a subtle shove.

“That little split right there is all he needed,” former Jets and Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. “He nudges you on the hip with the elbow and then he bursts full speed for an out route. Now it’s too late. There is nothing you can do.”

Gonzalez, who has the flashiest statistics of all the tight ends, wanted to be considered a receiving tight end and clashed with coaches who wanted him to embrace the more muscular aspects of his job.

Defenders often thought they had Gates smothered only to see him make a catch. He had more touchdown receptions than any tight end and is seventh in touchdown catches among all players. Former NFL safety Eric Weddle, who played against Gates, Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski, Kelce and Kittle, says Gates was the most difficult to cover.

“Knowing how to position his body is what made him special,” Rivera says. “I think it came from his basketball background. For him, a catch was a rebound. He was the best underneath target I ever saw.”

Amid positional evolution, Gronkowski was a throwback — more Ditka and Mackey than Gonzalez and Gates.

“The thing about Gronk was Gronk could also block like a tackle,” former teammate Julian Edelman said in “The Blood and Guts.” “Nowadays, you’re getting tight ends who are just receiver tight ends. They don’t put their head in the mix. Gronk was an elite — an elite — blocker.”

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But Gronkowski was a special weapon as a receiver, as well. He had five seasons scoring at least 10 touchdowns, more than any tight end in history.

“He wasn’t going to run away from you or route you up,” Weddle says. “But he would create so much separation with his first two steps. You would be able to get back in phase with the next three, four steps because you’re faster. But then he would body you up. He was so big and had such a big wingspan. If the ball was anywhere close to him, he was catching it.”

Ditka, Mackey, Casper and Gronkowski led to Kittle.

Newsome, Winslow, Sharpe, Gonzalez and Gates led to Kelce.

Nine tight ends have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — Casper, Ditka, Gonzalez, Mackey, Newsome, Charlie Sanders, Sharpe, Jackie Smith and Winslow. Gates is a semifinalist in his first year of eligibility and will likely join the others, as will the not-yet-eligible Gronkowski and Jason Witten.

In 2019, the NFL assembled a panel of dignitaries to name a 100th anniversary team. It included five tight ends — Ditka, Mackey, Winslow, Gonzalez and Gronkowski.

The Athletic published “The Football 100” before the 2023 season and included the same five tight ends among its top 100 players. Gronkowski ranked 47th, Mackey 57th, Gonzalez 81st, Winslow 82nd and Ditka 97th.

Most historians agree those are the five best tight ends, though the order of the five comes down to which style is preferred. Whether Kelce or Kittle can crack the five remains to be seen.

In 1988, Ditka became the first tight end inductee, which says something. Some who saw Ditka and Mackey play remain convinced the first were the best.

“The best tight end in the history of pro football is Mike Ditka,” Wolf says. “Right on his tail is John Mackey. These other guys are just guys compared to them. They wrote the book. I can’t believe anybody who’s watched Ditka play could think anyone was better.”

Ditka, perhaps out of modesty, disagrees with Wolf.

“I don’t believe I was the greatest tight end,” he said. “I think John Mackey was. He had more speed than me and was a little better receiver than me. I couldn’t do all the things he could, and he couldn’t do all the things I could. But we were probably two of the best in our time.”

Some — including the panel that selected “The Football 100” — favor Gronkowski. While he may be the beneficiary of recency bias and playing with Tom Brady, there is no arguing that his impact was phenomenal.

The Football 100

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Gronkowski ran through many tackles. Similarly, Kittle’s business card is yards after the catch. Since he came into the league, he has led all tight ends with an average of 7.3 yards after the catch, according to TruMedia.

“Kittle is like a rhinoceros when he’s running with the ball,” Weddle says. “I wouldn’t say he’s that hard to cover with his route running, but when he gets the ball in his hands, it’s a tall task to bring him down. That and the way he blocks separate him from everybody else in today’s game.”

Kittle has already been voted to five Pro Bowls. That pales next to Gonzalez’s 14, but Kittle has played only seven seasons and could enhance his legacy for many years.

Gonzalez is the only tight end elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Hall of Fame front office executive Gil Brandt once ranked Gonzalez the greatest tight end ever for NFL.com.

Kelce is 34 years old, has played 11 seasons, has been voted to nine Pro Bowls and has secured a place among the greatest. He already has more postseason catches than any player ever and Sunday he will tie Gronkowski for most postseason games by a tight end with 22.

Kelce also has the highest profile of any tight end in history. He leads the league in TV commercials, co-hosts one of the most listened-to podcasts in the country and canoodles with someone with many more downloads to her credit.

Maybe he is the lucky one.

OH MY GOODNESS TRAVIS KELCE pic.twitter.com/b8W7hs0ih4
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 28, 2024

Kelce is reminiscent of Winslow in that both were the beneficiaries of their circumstances. Winslow had two Hall of Fame coaches guiding him and a cutting-edge scheme. He had a Hall of Fame quarterback throwing to him and played with three wide receivers who were All-Pro at one time or another.

Kelce plays for one of the greatest offensive minds and head coaches of his era, is thrown to by football’s best quarterback and lined up with one of the league’s best wide receivers until the 2022 season.

Kelce’s numbers dwarf Winslow’s partly because his Chiefs, like all teams today, are throwing the ball more — a trend for which Winslow’s teams were partially responsible. But Kelce arguably has been more important to the Chiefs than Winslow was to the Chargers. In his career, Winslow accounted for 18 percent of his team’s receiving yards; Kelce has accounted for 25 percent. Kelce has led the Chiefs in receiving yards six times, including in 2023; Winslow led the Chargers just once.

Opponents looked at Winslow and thought, “How can I guard this guy?” They look at Kelce and say, “How does he make plays?” He’s not as physically gifted or imposing as Winslow was, but he is no less effective. Rivera says Kelce plays faster and bigger than expected.

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Kelce approaches his position with the understanding of a quarterback, which he believes he could be after playing the position in high school and his early college days.

“He thinks like a quarterback, understanding the passing game and coverages,” Dungy says.

Route running is his superpower.

“In how he changes speeds, manipulates defenders, stresses your leverage, I’d put him in a category with Keenan Allen as a receiver,” Weddle says. “He’s not a burner by any means, but he’s always open because of that. All the things that are challenging in route running, he has.”

Weddle and Dungy point out the Chiefs rarely run to Kelce’s side and count on him to clear a path for a ball carrier. So Kittle can help the 49ers win in more ways. But Kelce can make more big plays.

One of them almost assuredly is going to do something that helps his team bring home the Lombardi Trophy.

It will be a victory for one conference, one team and one style of tight end.

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(Top photos: Dustin Bradford / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images; Michael Zagaris / San Francisco 49ers / Getty Images)

Sports

Eileen Gu reflects on decision to leave Team USA for China: ‘A lot of people just don’t understand’

Published

6 hours ago

March 3, 2026

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Eileen Gu reflects on decision to leave Team USA for China: ‘A lot of people just don’t understand’

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Eileen Gu released a statement on social media Monday, reflecting on her controversial decision to compete for Team China despite being born and raised in the U.S.

Gu’s statement tied the decision back to her passion for promoting women’s sports, and encouraging young girls to pursue sports.

“I gave my first speech on women in sports and title IX when I was 11 years old. I talked about being the only girl on my ski team, and, despite attending an all-girls’ school from Monday through Friday, becoming best friends with my teammates on the weekends through the common language of sport,” Gu wrote on Instagram.

Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China poses for photos after the awarding ceremony of the freestyle skiing women’s freeski big air event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 16, 2026. (Photo by Wang Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images) (Wang Peng/Xinhua via Getty Images)

“At the same time, I was made painfully aware of the lack of representation – at age 9, I felt that I was somehow representing all women every time I stepped in the terrain park. Landing tricks was about more than progression … it was about disproving the derisive implication of what it meant to ‘ski like a girl.’”

Gu went on to express gratitude for the one season in which she did compete for the U.S.

“When I was 15, I announced my decision to compete for China. At the time, I had spent one season on the US team, and had been lucky enough to meet my heroes in person. I am forever grateful for that season, and continue to maintain a close relationship with the team. I had spent every summer in China since I was 8 setting up summer camps on trampoline and dry slope for kids and adults, ranging from 7 to 47 years old, so I knew the industry was tiny. I felt like I knew everyone,” she added.

“Skiing for Team China meant the opportunity to uplift others through the universal culture of sport, and to introduce freeskiing to hundreds of millions of people who had never heard of it, especially with the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics around the corner.”

Gu’s statement concluded by acknowledging that certain people “don’t understand” her decision to compete for China over the U.S., while insisting the choice maximized the impact she would have.

“I can look back now, at 22, and tell 12 year old Eileen that there are now terrain parks full of little girls, who will never doubt their place in the sport. I can tell 15 year old me that there are now millions of girls who have started skiing since then, in China and worldwide,” Gu wrote.

“A lot of people won’t understand or believe that I made a decision to create the greatest amount of positive impact on the world stage that I could, at this age, given my interests and passions. Three golds and six medals later, I can confidently say was once a dream is now a reality.”

Gu has become a target for global criticism this Olympics for her decision to represent China while remaining silent on the country’s alleged human rights abuses.

In an interview with Time magazine, Gu was asked her thoughts on China’s alleged persecution of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

“I haven’t done the research. I don’t think it’s my business. I’m not going to make big claims on my social media,” Gu answered.

“I’m just more of a skeptic when it comes to data in general. … So, it’s not like I can read an article and be like, ‘Oh, well, this must be the truth.’ I need to have a ton of evidence. I need to maybe go to the place, maybe talk to 10 primary source people who are in a location and have experienced life there.

“Then I need to go see images. I need to listen to recordings. I need to think about how history affects it. Then I need to read books on how politics affects it. This is a lifelong search. It’s irresponsible to ask me to be the mouthpiece for any agenda.”

More controversy surrounding Gu erupted after The Wall Street Journal reported that Gu and another American-born athlete who now competes for China, were paid a combined $6.6 million by the Beijing Municipal Sports Bureau in 2025.

Gu is the highest-paid Winter Olympics athlete in the world, making an estimated $23 million in 2025 alone due to partnerships with Chinese companies, including the Bank of China and western companies.

Her alignment with China prompted criticism from many Americans this Olympics, including Vice President J.D. Vance.

“I certainly think that someone who grew up in the United States of America who benefited from our education system, from the freedoms and liberties that makes this country a great place, I would hope they want to compete with the United States of America,” Vance said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”

Later, when Gu was asked if she feels “like a bit of a punching bag for a certain strand of American politics at the moment,” she said she does.

“I do,” she said. “So many athletes compete for a different country. … People only have a problem with me doing it because they kind of lump China into this monolithic entity, and they just hate China. So, it’s not really about what they think it’s about.

“And, also, because I win. Like, if I wasn’t doing well, I think that they probably wouldn’t care as much, and that’s OK for me. People are entitled to their opinions.”

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Silver medalist Eileen Gu of China attends the awarding ceremony of the freestyle skiing women’s freeski big air event at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Livigno, Italy, Feb. 16, 2026. (Hongxiang/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Gu has claimed she was “physically assaulted” for the decision.

“The police were called. I’ve had death threats. I’ve had my dorm robbed,” Gu told The Athletic.

“I’ve gone through some things as a 22-year-old that I really think no one should ever have to endure, ever.”

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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.

Sports

Arnold, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Evans, Carl Lewis new members of California’s Hall of Fame

Published

7 hours ago

March 3, 2026

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Arnold, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Evans, Carl Lewis new members of California’s Hall of Fame

From Hollywood actors to Olympic athletes and politicians, California’s newest Hall of Fame class runs the gamut in talent and achievements.

Academy Award-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis and former governor/action star Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olympic champions Janet Evans and Carl Lewis, authors Riane Eisler and Terry McMillan, chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, groundbreaking ensemble Mariachi Reyne de Los Ángeles and former state Democratic leader John L. Burton all earned a spot into the assembly of distinct Californians, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday.

This class, the 19th in state history, will be formally enshrined during a ceremony at the California Museum in Sacramento on March 19 as a “celebration of their contributions to civic life, creativity, and social progress,” according to Newsom’s office.

The inductees “have reshaped our culture and our communities. Resilient and innovative, these leaders and luminaries represent the best of the California spirit,” Newsom said in a statement.

To be inducted, candidates must have lived in California for at least five years and “have made achievements benefiting the state, nation and world,” according to the California Hall of Fame website. To date, 166 Californians have been selected by three governors since 2006.

Schwarzenegger, 78, served as the state’s 38th governor and last Republican head of state from 2003 to 2011. His renaissance man biography includes a career as a body builder, highlighted by his Mr. Universe titles, action film success, political stardom and even tabloid-fodder infidelity.

Curtis, 67, a Santa Monica native, is among Hollywood’s elite and teamed with Schwarzenegger in the action blockbuster “True Lies” in 1994. Her acting career dates to 1977, and she earned a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 2023 for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Evans, 54, is a four-time Olympic gold medal swimmer and Fullerton native who attended Placentia El Dorado High School, Stanford University and USC. She serves as chief athletic officer for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Lewis, 64, is considered by many one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. The track star won 10 medals, nine of them gold, in four Olympics.

Eisler, 88, and McMillan, 74, added multiple bestsellers to this Hall of Fame class.

Eisler’s critically acclaimed “The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future” examines roughly 20,000 years of partnership between men and women and male domination over the last 5,000 years. The futurist, cultural historian and Holocaust survivor who has degrees in sociology and law from UCLA said she was informed of the honor last year by Jennifer Siebel Newsom and recently was honored by the Austrian government with its Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class.

“I am very honored at this time in my life to be inducted into the California Hall of Fame,” Eisler wrote in an email. “I have worked tirelessly to help create a better world, and firmly believe that a new paradigm, a new way of looking at our world and our place in it, is crucial.”

McMillan has written a series of smash hits, including a couple that became major studio films in the ‘90s, “Waiting to Exhale” and “How Stella Got her Groove Back,” centered on Black women’s voices.

Matsuhisa, 76, know for his iconic Japanese restaurant Nobu, which has six locations in California, owns businesses across five continents.

Mariachi Reyna de Los Ángeles, founded in South El Monte, rewrote the rules of music, becoming the first all-woman mariachi ensemble that has entertained for more than three decades.

Burton, the former chair of the California Democratic Party who died last year at 92, boasted a political career that included time in the California State Assembly and Senate and the U.S. House.

“This year’s class embodies the very best of California — creativity, resilience and a spirit of community,” Siebel Newsom said in a statement. “These honorees remind us that innovation and courage flourish when people are lifted up by those around them.”

Sports

Former NFL Players Of Iranian Descent Speak Up For Freedom From Islamic Regime

Published

18 hours ago

March 3, 2026

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Former NFL Players Of Iranian Descent Speak Up For Freedom From Islamic Regime

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Ali Haji-Sheikh and Shar Pourdanesh share the fact they are retired NFL players living beyond the glow of the NFL spotlight. But they also share another distinction tying them to current events: They are part of the Iranian diaspora hoping for the downfall of the Islamic revolution.

They make up part of a small group of men who played in the NFL – along with David Bakhtiari, his brother Eric Bakhtiari and T.J. Housmandzadeh – who are decedents of Iranians.

Washington Redskins kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh (6) talks to reporters at Jack Murphy Stadium during media day prior to Super Bowl XXII against the Denver Broncos. San Diego, California, on Jan. 26, 1988.(Darr Beiser/USA TODAY Sports)

Haji-Sheikh: Self-Determination For Iranians

Haji-Sheikh, 65, played in the 1980s for the New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. He was a first-team All-Pro, made the Pro Bowl and was on the NFL All-Rookie team in 1983 for the Giants and, in his final season, won a Super Bowl XXII ring playing for the Washington Redskins and kicking six extra points in a 42-10 blowout of the Denver Broncos.

Now, Haji-Sheikh is the general manager at a Michigan Porsche-Audi dealership and is like the rest of us: Keeping up with world events when time permits.

Except the war the United States is currently waging against the Islamic Republic of Iran is kind of different because Haji-Sheikh’s dad emigrated from Iran to the United States in the 1950s and built a life here.

And his son would like to see freedom come to a country he’s never visited but has a kinship to.

“It’s a world event,” Haji-Sheikh said on Monday. “I am not a big fan of the Islamic revolution because I am not Islamic. I would like to see the people of Iran be able to determine their own future rather than it be determined by a few people. It would be nice to see them having a stable government where the people can actually decide how they want it to go.

Green Bay Packers kicker Al Del Greco (10) talks with New York Giants kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh (6) on Sept. 15, 1985, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers defeated the Giants 23-20.

Iranians Celebrating And Americans Protesting

Haji-Sheikh hasn’t taken to the streets of his native Michigan to celebrate a liberation that hasn’t fully manifested mere days after the American and Israeli bombing and elimination of the Ayatollah.

“I’m so far removed from that,” Haji-Sheikh said. “My mom is from Michigan and of Eastern European background. My dad is from Iran. But it’s like, he hasn’t been back since I was in eighth grade, so that’s a long time ago. That was when the Shah was still in power, mid-70s, ‘74 or ’75, because if he ever went back after that he never would have left. They would have held him, so there was no intention of going back.

“But if things change he might want to go, you never know.”

Despite being removed from any activism about what is happening in Iran Haji-Sheikh is an astute observer.

“My favorite thing I’m seeing right now on TV is the Iranians in America celebrating because there’s a chance, a glimpse, maybe a hope for freedom,” Haji-Sheikh said. “And you have these people in New York protesting. What are you protesting?”

Pourdanesh Thanks America, Israel

Pourdanesh retired from the NFL in 2000 after a seven-year career with the Redskins and Steelers. The six-foot-six and 312-pound offensive tackle was born in Tehran. He proudly tells people he was the NFL’s first Iranian-born player.

Pourdanesh is much more visible and open about his feelings about his country than others. And, bottom line, he loves that President Donald Trump is bombing the Islamic regime.

“This is a great day for all Iranians across the world,” Pourdanesh posted on his Instagram account on Saturday when the war began. “Thank you, President Trump, thank you to the nation of Israel. Thank you for everybody that has been standing up for my people, my brothers and sisters in Iran across the world. This is a great day.

“The infamous dictator is dead – the one person who has contributed to deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iranians and other people around the world, if not more. So, congratulations to my Iranian brothers and sisters. Now, go and take back the country.”

This message was not a one-off. Pourdanesh has been posting about what has been happening in Iran since January, when people in Iran took to the streets demanding liberty and the government’s thugs began killing them, with some estimates rising to 36,500 deaths.

Offensive lineman Shar Pourdanesh (68) of the Pittsburgh Steelers blocks against defensive lineman Jevon Kearse (90) of the Tennessee Titans during a game at Three Rivers Stadium on Sept. 24, 2000, in Pittsburgh. The Titans defeated the Steelers 23-20. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

‘Islam Does Not Represent The Iranian People’

“[The] Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people,” Pourdanesh said in another post. “Islam does not represent the Iranian people. For almost 50 years, the Iranian people and our country of Iran has been taken hostage by a terrorist regime, and it’s time to take that regime down.”

Pourdanesh was not available for comment on Monday. I did speak to a handful of other Iranian-Americans on Monday. They didn’t play in the NFL, but their opinions are no less valuable than those of former NFL players.

And these people, some of them participating in rallies on behalf of a free Iran, do not understand the thinking of some Americans and mainstream media.

One complained that media that reports on reparations for black Americans based on slavery in the 1800s dismisses the Islamic takeover of the American Embassy in 1979 as an old grievance.

Another said his brother lives in England, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer immediately called the American and Israeli attacks on the Ayatollah’s regime “illegal” but, as the head of the Crown Prosecution Service took years to do the same of Muslim rape (grooming) gangs in the country.

(Starmer announced a national “statutory inquiry” in June 2025).

Offensive lineman Shar Pourdanesh of the Washington Redskins looks on from the sideline during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium on Sept. 7, 1997, in Pittsburgh. The Steelers defeated the Redskins 14-13. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

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Pourdanesh Calls Out NFL Silence

And finally, Pourdanesh put the NFL on blast. He said in yet another post that during his career, the NFL asked him to honor black history, asked him to stand for women’s rights, asked him to fight for equality for those who cannot defend themselves.

“I did everything they asked, and now I ask the NFL this: Where are you now? Why haven’t we heard a single word out of the NFL? NFL, Commissioner Roger Goodell, all the NFL teams out there, all the players who say they stand for social justice, where are you now?

“Why haven’t we heard a single word out of you with regard to the people who have been killed as of today? The very values you claim to espouse are being trampled right now. Why haven’t we heard a single word?”

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