Sports
Blackhawks wunderkind Connor Bedard dazzles fans and defies age in rookie campaign
Connor Bedard wasn’t nervous when he pulled on a Team Canada sweater and stepped onto the ice at the World Junior championships, the weight of a hockey-mad country’s expectations resting squarely on his shoulders. He wasn’t nervous when NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly kept flipping over placards with NHL team logos on them after the draft lottery, Bedard’s fate and his future resting face-down at the bottom of the pile. Honestly, he wasn’t even all that nervous the first time he donned a Chicago Blackhawks jersey in a real game and settled in at the opening faceoff dot against his idol, Pittsburgh Penguins megastar Sidney Crosby.
Hockey’s familiar. Hockey’s comfortable. Connor Bedard knows hockey.
But standing in the entryway of Nick Foligno’s house in Chicago on a September evening, fidgeting and shuffling and making meager attempts at small talk with Nick and his wife, Janelle, who had invited the new guy over for a nice family dinner?
Yeah, Bedard was nervous.
“I don’t think (it’s) intimidating,” Bedard said of his first forays into the world of grown-ups. “I didn’t know anyone, so you’re kind of nervous about that. Just how I’m going to fit in and stuff.”
The way Foligno remembers it, Bedard quickly started talking about hockey and seemed almost desperate to put some kind of sports on television to focus on. Hey, Foligno might be 36 years old now, but he was a young hockey player once. He remembers being in the Ontario Hockey League as a teenage standout, watching NHL games every night and flipping to the “On The Fly” highlight show on NHL Network. He wasn’t having grand conversations about life and family and the world over elegant dinners. So he knew how awkward this was for Bedard.
Then Foligno’s three kids barreled down the hallway, immediately challenging the world’s most famous 18-year-old hockey player to a game of mini-sticks. Bedard was on his knees battling for loose pucks almost instantly.
“That just broke the ice,” Foligno said. “He’s just goofing around with them, and they’re loving it, they’re laughing. Then while they’re playing, I said to Janelle, ‘You know, I think he’s closer to their age than mine.’”
That’s how it hits you — suddenly, out of nowhere, frequently. Bedard’s 18. Won’t turn 19 until July 17, closer to the start of next season than the end of this one. He’s the 14th-youngest player in NHL history. Yes, he already has one of the two or three best shots in the world. Yes, he’s the Blackhawks’ No. 1 center, a regular presence on national television, at the center of both his team’s and his league’s marketing campaigns. Yes, he speaks with the polish and poise of someone who’s been talking to reporters regularly for nearly five years. Which he has.
But he is 18. Some of his co-workers are nearly twice his age. Some of his closest friends on the team are in their mid-20s, grown men with families. And yet, somehow, Bedard fits right in. He belongs.
Bedard entered the NHL as possibly the most hyped prospect ever. Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux predated the Information Age, Crosby broke in before the social-media hype ecosystem existed, and few outside of Canada and the true hockey diehards in the States really knew all that much about Connor McDavid before the Edmonton Oilers drafted him. But hockey fans had been bombarded by Bedard’s brilliance for two full years by the time he was drafted — his gifts and his GIFs endlessly looping on feeds and in brains around the hockey world. The hype was out of control, the expectations unfair, the burdens and pressures simply crushing.
And yet, as Bedard wraps up his first pro season, he’s done something even more difficult than scoring that lacrosse goal in St. Louis or picking a corner on Sergei Bobrovsky: He’s lived up to it all.
“I think what he experienced is unlike anything we’ve seen any rookie (experience), maybe ever in our game,” Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said. “And the way he handled it, the way he didn’t let it impact anything on the ice, didn’t let it impact how he went about his business — it’s extremely impressive.”
Connor Bedard has lived up to his considerable hype. (Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)
Bedard doesn’t wear a hat and sunglasses when he’s at the grocery store, or popping out for a quick bite somewhere in the city.
“I wear my jersey, signed and everything,” he quipped. “No, I’m not trying to hide too much. Maybe I have my head down sometimes if I see someone might be coming over, but no, I don’t mind getting recognized.”
It’s something the previous generation’s stars — Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith, in particular — always appreciated about the city. Oh, they see you. They know who you are. But they won’t lose their minds about it. Maybe they’ll ask for a quick picture with their kids. Maybe they’ll just tell you how much they appreciate you. But it’s quick and it’s painless, a pleasant reminder that being a beloved star hockey player in a huge city is, in fact, pretty cool.
There’s nothing normal about Bedard’s situation. But moments of normalcy are precious, and Bedard’s teammates have made a point of treating him like any other player.
“I haven’t been in his shoes with what he has to deal with from a day-to-day basis, and what he feels personally on and off the ice,” teammate Taylor Raddysh said. “So … I try to be there for him if he ever wants it, to just help him just be a normal person in his day-to-day life.”
Raddysh, a 26-year-old teammate who lives in the same apartment building as Bedard, has become one of his closest friends in Chicago. When Bedard broke his jaw on a hit by New Jersey’s Brendan Smith on Jan. 5, Raddysh and his wife stayed in Bedard’s apartment that night — a welcome comfort for a teenager living on his own.
Foligno, on the other hand, has been both big brother and surrogate dad. Nobody gives Bedard more grief for his lengthy pregame routines and his complete lack of pop-culture knowledge, and nobody puts in as much time to shape Bedard, to help him find perspective and peace, to prepare him mentally and physically for the rigors of life in the NHL. Foligno broke into the league just shy of his 20th birthday and raves about how Ottawa Senators teammates Daniel Alfredsson, Mike Fisher, Chris Neil, Chris Kelly and Wade Redden took him under their wings.
Bedard calls his actual dad, Tom, after every game to break down his play and just chat. But he has to listen to his hockey dad all day, every day.
Foligno was caught on mic on the Blackhawks bench one game lamenting to Bedard that he’ll need to stick around “like five more years after I retire” to teach the kid all the things he needed to teach him. Foligno could have been talking about how to handle being a captain (which Bedard inevitably will be), how to ensure a long career, how to cheat just enough to win faceoffs against the league’s best. But no, he was talking about the Freddie Mercury call-and-response clip that was playing at the United Center during the TV timeout.
“He didn’t know who Freddie Mercury was!” Foligno said. “Oh, man, I was pissed. … If he doesn’t watch some movies over the summer, I’m gonna snap.”
But it’s the mental side of stardom that Foligno has focused on. Early in the season, Foligno saw how hard Bedard took every loss (and there have been a lot of them; Chicago has tied a 70-year-old franchise record with 51 losses after bottoming out to improve their chances of landing Bedard in the first place). Like Toews 17 years earlier, Bedard stewed on every mistake and took his work home with him. He blamed himself for every loss, even when he scored a goal or two.
“He wants the pressure, and it’s impressive,” Foligno said. “But it can’t be (to the point) where it squashes him. Sometimes those guys take on so much because they want it, but they don’t realize that it’s paralyzing them at the same time. That’s the balance he has to find in the NHL. Some of the burdens, you don’t have to carry. He wants to score every night. The best players do. And we need him to if we’re going to have success. But when he doesn’t make that one play, and he’s got two goals in the game but he’s obsessing over the one he didn’t make — I get it, you’re a perfectionist. But that’s taking you away from your next shift. You have to have a short memory. And maybe the next one you put in, because you’re not thinking about the last one. Those are the little things you’re trying to teach him as a pro.”
Still, it’s that singular preoccupation with the game that has helped Bedard become the player he is. He’s obsessed with greatness, and he knows he’s capable of it. Early in the season, when Bedard had just one goal in his first five games, a reporter asked if maybe he was shooting from too far away, if perhaps he couldn’t get away with the things he got away with in junior hockey. The numbers backed it up; he was shooting from nearly twice as far on average as Toronto’s Auston Matthews, the best goal-scorer in the game.
“I’ve got a good shot,” he said, more defiant than defensive.
Sure enough, he scored eight goals in the next seven games.
Bedard’s rink-rat nature is already the stuff of legends. On practice days, he’ll stay out on the ice for nearly an hour after his teammates head in for the day, working on skills with other young standouts such as linemate Philipp Kurashev and fellow top-10 pick Kevin Korchinski. When he was out with a broken jaw, he was still skating nearly every day.
“Just kind of grew the love for the game,” he said. “Now, (I’m) kind of a nerd, it’s kind of all I do. It’s something I enjoy. I have a passion to try and be the best I can, like everyone in the league.”
But unlike everyone in the league, he’s doing it under the most glaring of spotlights. Over the summer, Blackhawks president of business Jaime Faulkner said the team was wary of putting Bedard front-and-center because he was so young and the expectations were so high. But ticket sales were even higher, so Bedard organically became the centerpiece of the Blackhawks’ marketing campaign. His was the only jersey available at the team-store kiosk in training camp. His face was on billboards throughout the city. Even when he was hurt, Bedard participated in the All-Star Game, and announced on national TV that the Blackhawks would host next year’s Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.
“I think we were pretty committed at the beginning of the season that we were not going to put a lot of pressure on him,” Faulkner said. “I would say we never heavily marketed around him, but the reality is anytime he appeared in our content, the engagement just went off the charts.”
Connor Bedard has stated his desire to grow hockey in Chicago and beyond. (Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
Since the NHL Draft lottery last May, the Blackhawks have had a 10 percent increase in Instagram followers, to 1.8 million. A recent goal of Bedard against the Arizona Coyotes on Instagram drew 1.5 million views. There’s been a 20 percent increase in subscribers to their YouTube page, which now has 87,300. They’ve seen a 25 percent increase in TikTok followers, up to 655,600. A TikTok post featuring Bedard and San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama — a meeting that stemmed from a Spurs request — has 8.5 million views. And as bad as the Blackhawks have been this season, they’ve had the fourth-highest attendance in the league, averaging nearly 19,000 fans a game.
His agent, Greg Landry, pointed to All-Star weekend as an example of Bedard’s understanding of his place in the game. Most players would rather spend a few days on the beach in Mexico than show up for All-Star Weekend in Canada in February. But Bedard, still injured, participated in the skills competition and made the media rounds.
“He’s obviously a big name, and it was in Toronto, and (there) was a lot of attention on hockey,” Landry said. “And I think he felt it was the right thing to do, to be there (and) help grow the game through that event. He definitely gets it from that perspective.”
While the Maple Leafs largely shielded Matthews from the voracious Toronto press during his rookie season (when he was 19), Bedard talks to reporters more than any other Blackhawks player.
“I think for the organization and the league, if I can help grow it and have a positive impact, (I’ll do it),” Bedard said. “I remember being a kid and seeing people do similar stuff. I enjoy doing a lot of it. Any way I can help out in that way, I’m happy to do it — obviously to an extent, with the hockey No. 1.”
All the outside noise and distractions exist because of what Bedard can do on the ice. And while his 61 points in 67 games is a far cry from Crosby’s 102 points in 81 games as a teenage rookie, it’s still impressive given the lack of elite talent surrounding him. He leads NHL rookies in goals (22), assists (39) and points (61) despite missing 14 games with the broken jaw. He’s turned Kurashev, a defensive-minded bottom-six center, into an 18-goal, 54-point top-line winger. He’s helped turn back the clock on Foligno, who’s frequently on the top line alongside Bedard and has 17 goals, his most since 2018-19.
Bedard draws opponents’ toughest matchups night after night. He’s seven months into the longest season of his hockey career. He’s facing the best goalies in the world, the best defensemen in the world, the best coaches in the world. Yet he keeps producing.
“You forget how young he is,” Davidson said. “In the maturation of players coming into pro, from 18 to 21, there’s so much growth that occurs in that time, and so much improvement for most players occurs in that time. And for him to come in, 18 years old — like a fresh 18-year-old — it’s incredible.”
He’s far from a perfect player. His defensive deficiencies are glaring some nights. The Blackhawks have been outscored 65-36 at five-on-five when Bedard has been on the ice. Some hockey traditionalists look at his minus-41 rating and want to hand the Calder Trophy, awarded to the league’s best rookie, to Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber, who is less offensive-minded but more well-rounded (and three years older).
Foligno said that aspect of his game is the next step in Bedard’s evolution. And again, Crosby’s name was invoked, as it so often is in conversations about Bedard. Foligno said that in Crosby’s early years, he was “all-out offense.” But once he learned to be a complete player, “there was no stopping him.”
“I think the second half of the season, he’s not only handled it well but he’s stepped up his game, his whole game, his whole 200-foot game,” said Richardson, who broke into the league as an 18-year-old defenseman.
At 18, Connor Bedard is already the Blackhawks’ best player, and he has room to grow. (Harry How / Getty Images)
So what will Year 2 look like for Bedard, as a wizened 19-year-old? More goals. More assists. More wins. Maybe a little more defense. And probably more billboards, more interviews.
“He wants to be great,” Raddysh said. “It’s got to be tiring and demanding on him, but I feel like he just never seems to get tired. It’s definitely a mental and physical battle for him. (But) he loves the game, and loves to try to get himself better every day.”
(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic. Photos: Jeff Haynes / Getty; Jamie Sabau, Scott Olson / NBAE)
Sports
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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