Sports
Brock Purdy's origin story, the Ames chapter: How Iowa State crafted the 49ers QB
AMES, Iowa — Taylor Mouser leaned forward in his office inside Iowa State’s football facility, digging through his computer’s files. The Cyclones’ offensive coordinator was looking for the practice tape of the play that started it all.
Brock Purdy is now the star quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, fresh off a season in which he led the NFL across the efficiency spectrum and finished as an MVP finalist. Just months from now, he’ll be eligible for what might end up being the NFL’s largest contract.
At this time six years ago, Purdy was a third-string true freshman grinding through his first college training camp. Mouser was reminiscing on Purdy’s meteoric 2018 ascent at Iowa State when he struck gold.
“Here it is,” Mouser interrupted himself. “I found it.”
He rolled tape of a goal-line rep from training camp. The Cyclones ran an option play they call “Bengal.” If the strong-side defensive end doesn’t crash inside, the quarterback typically flips the ball to a running back on an inside pitch. But there was nothing typical about Purdy.
The freshman wearing No. 15 stared down defensive end JaQuan Bailey, who’d earn All-Big 12 honors that year. Bailey didn’t crash, but Purdy didn’t care. He faked the pitch inside. Bailey bought it and lunged that way. Purdy exploded in the other direction. In a blink, there was space. He dove across the goal line.
Those on the practice field, including Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, stood stunned.
“It was a ‘wow’ moment,” Campbell said, sitting on the couch in his office this past May. “It was our (No.) 3 offense and they’re going against our (No.) 1 defense. Brock just has this elite way to maneuver his body, to set up the precise angle against the defensive end. You could almost feel the entire place erupt on that play.”
That play confirmed to Campbell and his staff that Purdy packed the moxie to succeed at the college level. Weeks later, an injury would open the door for Purdy to grab the starting job, a role he wouldn’t relinquish until he graduated following the 2021 season — 30 wins and a Fiesta Bowl championship later.
“Brock totally transcended our football program,” Campbell said. “We were climbing when Brock got here, but this was a place that had not consistently won, ever. I think what Brock did is he turned simply believing into showing what it takes to win here every day, instead of being a flash in the pan.
“Can we consistently win and compete for championships here at Iowa State? He did all those things and more.”
Purdy’s ascent with the 49ers four years later started with him turning heads as the scout team QB before grabbing the reins for good following an injury to starter Jimmy Garoppolo. So it’s easy to understand why folks in Ames weren’t necessarily surprised.
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A trip around the college town with a population of about 70,000 offers just a few reminders of Purdy’s time there. There’s a signed 49ers jersey that’s mounted next to Joe Montana’s No. 16 San Francisco jersey at Wallaby’s Bar and Grille on the north side, but it’s hard to find Purdy’s college No. 15 anywhere else outside Iowa State’s football facility.
Wallaby’s Bar and Grille in Ames was able to add a signed Brock Purdy 49ers jersey to its collection, which already featured a famous red No. 16. (David Lombardi / The Athletic)
Even in those hallways, there’s no glitzy shrine to the greatest quarterback in program history who ended his college career owning 32 school records. The facility, simultaneously sleek and modest, embodies the down-to-earth vibe Campbell has striven to establish since he took the head coaching job in 2016. This aura happened to mesh perfectly with Purdy’s.
“Ames, Iowa, is such a unique spot in the country,” said Kyle Kempt, an offensive assistant for the Cyclones who started at quarterback in 2017 and the beginning of the 2018 season. “There’s nothing really around here. You’re coming here for football and the people in the locker room, the people in the building. So it started with the vision coach Campbell had for this place. When we were recruiting Brock — that was the kind of kid we needed in the program to have success.
“We figured out we’re not going to be the most talented team in the league. We’re playing Oklahoma and Texas every year, but our edge is going to be the culture in the locker room.”
Though Purdy enjoyed considerable success at Perry High School in the Phoenix area, his recruitment escaped fanfare until after his junior season thanks to a debilitating bout with mononucleosis and — in a twist on brand for the Arizona native — a hand injury caused by a cactus.
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But Iowa State was unusually late on the QB market in the fall of 2017, Purdy’s senior year in high school. The Cyclones weren’t sure if Kempt — who orchestrated one of the greatest wins in school history that year in a 38-31 triumph over Oklahoma — would be granted eligibility to return for a sixth year. So Campbell had simple marching orders for Mouser, the program’s assistant scouting director at the time: Make a list of the 10 best uncommitted quarterbacks in the country.
“He brought me Brock’s tape,” Campbell remembered. “We sat there for 45 minutes, watching it three times. Then I made everybody get Baker Mayfield’s senior year of high school.”
That conversation happened in the midst of Mayfield’s 2017 season at Oklahoma, which featured spectacular improvisational play and finished with Mayfield winning the Heisman Trophy. Campbell saw a resemblance in Purdy.
Matt Campbell saw glimpses of Heisman Trophy-winning Baker Mayfield when he watched Brock Purdy’s high school tape. (David Purdy / Getty Images)
Campbell immediately called Preston Jones, Purdy’s coach at Perry High, and learned about the hardships that had left Purdy without a scholarship offer. Campbell was convinced he’d unearthed sensational value. His next phone call was to a 17-year-old Purdy.
“We talked for almost an hour and a half,” Campbell said. “We had a conversation of two grown men. It was the most incredible conversation. When I got off the phone, I said, ‘This kid’s really special and we’re going to do everything in our power to get him. He’s one of the most impressive humans I’ve ever talked to.’
“There was maturity, eloquence in describing his recruiting journey, raving about his parents, who they are, what they’ve meant to him, talking about his brother and his sister. … I didn’t want to get off the phone because I was so enamored by the maturity and the eloquence of this young man who knew who he was and knew what he stood for. I remember telling him, ‘Listen, I feel like this is a place you’re called to be at. This can be an incredible journey together.’”
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Campbell, Mouser and then-offensive coordinator Tom Manning flew to Arizona for an in-home visit. They played pingpong with Brock and his younger brother, Chubba, now a QB at the University of Nevada. The boys’ mom, Carrie, baked cookies for the visitors. Their dad, Shawn, shared his experience of playing minor-league baseball.
“When we walked out of that home visit, we felt like a million bucks,” Mouser said. “But as we were driving to the hotel, Brock got an offer from Alabama and we said, ‘This thing is going to get interesting fast.’”
Purdy took his official visit to Ames, but the secret was out. Both Alabama and Texas A&M ended up offering Purdy scholarships. The young quarterback assured Campbell’s staff that Iowa State was where he wanted to be and that he simply owed visits to the two powerhouses as a courtesy to his parents, but the Cyclones staff braced for a white-knuckle ride to the finish line.
Brock Purdy took visits to Alabama and Texas A&M, but Iowa State and Matt Campbell were always the right fit. (Courtesy of Shawn Purdy)
It was Iowa State’s culture that ended up pulling through. The simple sense of separation that Ames offered, away from traditional football factory fanfare, appealed to Purdy.
There was a homeyness about the program that a juggernaut like Alabama couldn’t offer. Purdy could fish frequently at local ponds around the small town, where player hangouts at Campbell’s house were the most popular form of entertainment.
“You don’t have to schedule a meeting with the secretary to come talk to (Campbell),” Mouser said. “We play golf all the time. We eat dinner together all the time. There’s just not a ton to do in Ames, Iowa, other than hang out with your group. It’s a brotherhood.”
Purdy committed to the Cyclones and never wavered.
“Texas A&M, Alabama, us — 99 times out of 100, a quarterback is going to one of those (first) two schools — but he knew Iowa State was the right fit for him,” Campbell said. “He always knew who he was. … Brock was always this man on a mission to do something. He knew what he stood for. He was never trying to be anybody else. He was never trying to fit in. He was just trying to be the best version of Brock.”
Mark Coberley, the head of Iowa State’s sports medicine and performance crew, walked downstairs into the bowels of the athletics facility. He strode into a room used to store a defunct Dynavision D2, a clunky-looking apparatus featuring dozens of lights that’s been replaced by a niftier machine in the nearby training room.
Purdy’s quickness, both in processing and movement, stands out in the NFL. The old Dynavision machine, which tasks users with rapidly contacting randomly illuminating lights, is where he perfected those reflexes. There were spirited contests with tight end Charlie Kolar, who’s now with the Baltimore Ravens.
“It became a daily game: 60 seconds, how many dots can you hit, which quadrant is the quickest, which is slowest,” Coberley said. “They had some stiff competitions. When it comes to quickness, Brock has such innate ability. I don’t think this created that ability for him, but it certainly let him practice it.”
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Purdy became one of six quarterbacks in Big 12 history to pass for over 10,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards in his career. His ticket to those gaudy numbers came through anticipatory play that would regularly flummox opposing defenses who thought they’d corralled him.
“He wasn’t this unbelievable runner at the QB spot, but he had this ability to extend plays,” Campbell said. “He had the ability in critical situations to scramble, no different than you saw against Detroit in the second half of the NFC Championship Game. If you look back to some of our biggest wins, he’s making those same plays and he’s getting himself out of Dodge against some elite defensive linemen.
“He has two elite qualities: one is his short-area burst, and then he’s the pump-fake king. He could pump-fake and get himself out of trouble with subtle variations as good as anybody.”
Brock Purdy keeps on doing damage with his legs!
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The practice play on which Purdy announced his arrival at Iowa State — the option run for a touchdown — came on a fake. Even as an 18-year-old freshman, Purdy showed command of the position’s subtleties.
Kempt was the Cyclones’ starter to open the 2018 season but hurt his knee in the second game. Iowa State turned to backup QB Zeb Noland but dropped to 1-3 with a gut-wrenching 17-14 loss to TCU at the end of September. At practice the following Wednesday, Purdy — who’d been elevated to the second-string offense — led an authoritative touchdown drive against the first-team defense in a two-minute drill, even punching in the two-point conversion without issue.
“And now the buzz was, ‘Holy cow, we’ve got to play this guy,’” Campbell said.
Kempt, who was slated for a midseason return from his knee injury, went into the coach’s office. He also sensed Purdy was ready. Campbell told Kempt that he’d start Noland in the next game against Oklahoma State but was planning to work Purdy into the mix.
“If we were going to go with Brock, it was probably going to put Kyle’s career on the shelf,” Campbell said. “He was a sixth-year senior, and we had this emerging quarterback we really believed in. Credit to Kyle. That took a lot of courage to come in. His response: ‘I think that’s a great idea. I’ll get him ready to go’ — which was one of the all-time selfless acts I’ve ever seen in a football program.”
“I wasn’t going to put myself above the team,” Kempt said. “This wasn’t about me.”
Brock Purdy, left, celebrates an Iowa State win with Kyle Kempt, middle, and linebacker Mike Rose. (David Purdy / Getty Images)
Just like he would in 2022 after Garoppolo suffered an injury against the Miami Dolphins, Purdy entered on the second series and didn’t relinquish the QB job. He finished Iowa State’s 48-42 road victory over Oklahoma State with 318 passing yards, 84 rushing yards and five total touchdowns — including one on a zone-read run set up by a fake pitch.
“You could just feel the first time Brock went in,” Campbell said. “Everybody believed we could win when he was in the football game and touched the ball. You could feel it on the sideline — immediately.”
The Cyclones ripped off five straight wins to salvage their season. By 2020, they broke through, finishing 9-3 with a 34-17 victory over Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl back in Purdy’s home state of Arizona.
Mouser, also originally from Arizona, savored that win. And so did Kempt, who’d moved on to Iowa State’s coaching staff by that point. As a successful Cyclones starter and one of Purdy’s predecessors — and then his first key mentor in the QB room — Kempt had a unique seat to watch the future NFL star’s rise.
Kempt maintains that Purdy’s huge reserve of experience prepared him for the NFL level. That’s something the 49ers also say that they valued, although it wasn’t as obvious in 2022 when they waited until pick No. 262 to draft him.
“Reps are so important,” Kempt said. “You keep seeing that with the NFL Draft. They add up over time. To see as many snaps as Brock did and be in that many crunch-time situations — I can’t tell you how many of those he’s been in, that’s just how we are: every game is close. It’s in his DNA to be a part of those things.
“He had a lot of reps here. He got to see every high and every low. He had a lot of times where he did really well and he had times where he probably tried to make too much out of something and he made a poor decision or bad throw. But he took all those experiences and used them to become even more even-keeled, and that over four years is what truly prepared him for the NFL.”
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From 2010 to 2018, Iowa State did not enjoy a single season with one quarterback starting every game. After taking over the position, Purdy started every game until he graduated. His college career straddled two offensive styles — Iowa State went from running a spread attack over his first two seasons to a pro-style, play-action-based system after that — and he operated both successfully.
“If you don’t know who you are or what you’re about, then when the chaos hits, the emotions take over. You’re either so high or so low that you can’t conduct through the chaos,” Campbell said. “But this young man was built from a young age to handle all of those emotions, through his faith, through his family, through knowing who he is and what he stands for.”
And that, according to Campbell, is where the key to understanding Purdy’s ascent lies.
“Obviously, you have to have enough talent to be able to throw the ball where it needs to be, but it always comes back to mental control,” Campbell said. “Do you know who you are? Do you know what you stand for? Do you know what you’re about? Because if you do, it brings a sense of calm to everybody around you — and that’s a game changer.”
For Iowa State, Purdy’s presence was a program changer. And history reverberates. A trip to Ames puts Purdy’s NFL surge, which the 49ers are currently enjoying, into a familiar context. It all started with a phone call that Campbell will never forget — and with a leap from third string to stardom that few saw coming.
“We had a profound impact on Brock,” Campbell said. “And I think Brock had a profound impact on all of us.”
(Top illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photo: John Locher / Associated Press)
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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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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.”
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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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