Sports
Deion Sanders went from NFL star to successful college coach. Did his teammates see it coming?
Thirty-five years ago, new Atlanta Falcon Deion Sanders arrived in Suwanee, Ga., with a carefully crafted reputation.
During his college career at Florida State, he had driven to a game in a white stretch limo and stepped out wearing a tuxedo. Sanders was known for strutting into end zones in a way hardly anyone else dared do at the time. He told media members that Florida receivers “must think I’m God.”
“He was known for his flashy suits and alligator shoes, gold chains and his signature diamond-studded dollar sign, maybe a silk pork pie hat,” Falcons teammate Tim Green wrote in an email.
So Green had concerns.
Then he met him.
“The first time I saw him in person was in training camp in the Falcon Inn lobby, I did a double take,” Green wrote. “Prime Time was just Deion, dressed in a pair of Falcons shorts and a nondescript T-shirt.”
Green asked him why he wasn’t wearing his signature jewelry.
“Aw, that’s just for show, Tim,’” Sanders told the defensive end.
Green, like almost everyone, saw the style initially but the substance eventually. The substance has resurfaced this season as he has led the University of Colorado to a 9-3 record. Sanders has been so impressive that he may draw interest from NFL teams looking for a head coach.
The Athletic spoke with 10 people who worked with Sanders during his NFL days. None envisioned Sanders as a coach who would turn around a major college football program, but their stories make it easier to connect the dots between Neon Deion and Coach Prime.
Sanders’ path to the Alamo Bowl this weekend wound through eight years of coaching at the high school level and three years at Jackson State. But it began when he was doing the Deion Shuffle.
Though Sanders the football player was often perceived as self-aggrandizing, some in his circle saw something else. They saw him as a unifier.
“The players gravitated to him,” says Jerry Glanville, who coached Sanders for four years in Atlanta. “They loved him.”
Deion Sanders began his NFL career with the Falcons in 1989, also playing baseball for the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves well into the 1990s. (Focus on Sport / Getty Images)
Glanville says teammates enjoyed it when Sanders brought celebrity friends like MC Hammer and Mr. T around the team.
When quarterback Bobby Hebert played against Sanders as a member of the Saints, he says he thought Sanders was cocky. Then Hebert signed with the Falcons as a free agent in 1993.
“As a teammate, you see he got along with everybody,” Hebert says. “We are both from the South, so we would go get a cane pole and go fishing together. The No. 1 asset he has is communication skills — how he interacted with the players in the locker room and meeting room. It didn’t matter if they were White or Black, and he was able to relate to different generations.”
Hebert believes Sanders’ ability to relate serves him well as a coach.
“When he is 70 or 80, he’ll still be able to relate to 20-year-olds,” Hebert says. “I would bet he’s an unbelievable recruiter.”
Green believes Sanders’ Christian faith, which he is vocal about, helps him as a leader.
“It’s the basis for his leadership,” Green wrote. “Jesus said to lead is to serve … and as the bright star of our team, he used his position to serve and therefore lead. He was humble and kind to every single man in that locker room.”
In 1992, Sanders agreed to film a Nike commercial in which he would appear as “Sanderclause.” Director Mike Gann asked him to pick five “brothers” from the team to be in the commercial with him to play “ghetto elves.” Sanders showed up with three African Americans and two White players, including Green. When Gann expressed dismay, Sanders told him, “I brought three of my Black brothers and two of my White brothers.”
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Sanders signed with the 49ers after the 1993 season and some of his new teammates viewed the addition with trepidation.
Steve Young says Sanders pulled him aside on his first day with the team.
“I want you to know that the marketing stuff is one of my geniuses,” Sanders told the quarterback. “But don’t let it confuse you. I am a tremendous teammate. I’m great in the locker room. I’ll always be there for game day. So you don’t ever have to worry about it or doubt it. Now, this other stuff, just get some popcorn and watch me.”
Young found out it wasn’t just talk.
“There is a sophistication to his ways,” Young says. “That conversation was unusual in how direct and mature it was. And then he was a tremendous teammate and amazing in the locker room, everything you could want. He was able to separate the work section and the popcorn section. And I think what they are seeing at Colorado now is very similar.”
In 1994, the 49ers were a team on the cusp. The Cowboys had been beaten them in the NFC Championship Game in each of the two previous seasons, and they needed something — someone — to push them past their rivals. With a bump from Sanders, they beat the Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game and then defeated the Chargers in the Super Bowl. Sanders had interceptions in both games.
“He brought a new energy,” says Merton Hanks, who played safety for the 49ers in those days. “He was able to bring in a superstar wattage, but at the same time blend into the culture we had established with other superstars like Jerry Rice and Steve Young while tweaking the culture as we went along. That team wasn’t as corporate as the previous 49ers champions were. I give Deion all the credit in the world for what he did with that team.”
Blending in was more challenging for Sanders when he signed with the Cowboys in 1995. After winning two Super Bowls, the Cowboys looked like they were starting to splinter in 1994 under new coach Barry Switzer.
Jason Garrett, a backup quarterback on that Cowboys team, says the players who set the tone for the Cowboys had won the Super Bowls before Switzer — Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, Darryl Johnston, Mark Stepnoski, Mark Tuinei and Tony Tolbert. However, he said Sanders was embraced as a leader as well.
“I’m not sure I’ve been around a guy who had more of an ability to naturally connect with teammates,” he says. “Obviously the defensive backs and guys on defense were all close with him. But he was amazing at developing relationships with everybody on the team.”
In training camp, Cowboys players drove golf carts like those on a public course. Sanders, however, had a Mercedes golf cart with air conditioning and other upgrades. Garrett says no one resented him for it.
The Cowboys had longer meetings than Sanders was accustomed to, and he found the chairs in the Cowboys meeting room uncomfortable, so Sanders bought a luxurious, ergonomic chair — ostensibly for himself.
“It was like he was making a statement,” Cowboys linebacker Jim Schwantz says. “‘We’re meeting too much so I’m going to get this nice chair.’ But then he let everybody else sit in it.”
Deion Sanders won a Super Bowl with the 49ers in the 1994 season, then won another the following year with Michael Irvin, right, and the Cowboys. (Monica Davies / AFP via Getty Images)
Sanders also worked with younger defensive backs in practice, according to Schwantz. “Deion was always forthcoming with his knowledge and tried to help the younger players,” Schwantz says.
One of Sanders’ pregame rituals was laying his uniform on the floor, from his neckband to his socks. Whenever defensive end Charles Haley saw the uniform, he messed it up — he did it at least three times before every game. Instead of getting angry, Sanders laughed with him. That helped Sanders earn Haley’s respect. Haley was a volatile presence on those Cowboys teams, but Sanders calmed him and acted as a liaison between Haley and the teammates he offended, according to Schwantz.
Sanders’ presence helped the Cowboys reclaim their throne as the NFL’s best, and he won his second Super Bowl in two seasons. Five years later, he left for a seven-year, $56 million contract with Washington. There, Sanders was part of an uncomfortable mix of future Hall of Fame cornerbacks. He started along with Champ Bailey, who was in his second season, while Darrell Green, a team legend, came off the bench.
“It was an awkward situation with him and Darrell Green and Champ Bailey as far as who’s going to be the guy and who’s going to start,” says Mark Carrier, a safety on that team. “It just made for a little uneasiness for everybody. But he didn’t go around saying, ‘It should be me, should be me.’ It was never like that. It was just always about being professional. ‘How can I help the team? What do we need to do to win?’”
After Carrier allowed a touchdown pass, he says Sanders lifted his spirits. And he remembers him being kind to his wife and playing catch with his son.
Washington, however, was a mess, and Sanders, at 33, surprisingly retired after the season.
Four years later, he made a comeback with the Ravens. By then, Sanders was a role player who had to navigate the big personalities of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.
“He understood I’m not the guy, and I don’t have to be,” says Brian Billick, the coach of those teams. “I can let Ray and Ed be out front, follow their leadership and then work in that next level to be a leader himself.”
Billick remembers Sanders counseling young players, especially those with attitudes that weren’t helping them or the team.
“He was very upfront with them about the mistakes he made when he was younger, both on and off the field,” Billick says. “He wanted to be an example, and I imagine he’s the same way now with his college players.”
No coach has success without passion for the game. Sanders’ colleagues observed an abundance of it in him during his time in the league.
Green says he never saw a player as serious about the game as Sanders.
“I remember when a helicopter dropped him off when he was playing for the Braves and the Falcons at the same time,” Green wrote. “He hopped off that bird onto the grass, raced into the locker room, emerged in record time, sprinted right into the middle of a team drill and began making calls for the secondary.”
Ken Herock, the Falcons’ player personnel director who drafted Sanders, marveled at how quickly Sanders transitioned between baseball and football.
“He put in a lot of time to catch up with film study, and then went on the field like it was just automatic,” Herock says.
However, some teammates in Dallas questioned Sanders’ work ethic and influence, according to the book “Boys Will Be Boys” by Jeff Pearlman. Sanders refused to take part in the team’s strength program and didn’t pay attention to tape in team meetings, where he doodled and dozed off, according to the book.
Then-Cowboys cornerback Kevin Smith told Pearlman there was a division between Sanders and Aikman, who didn’t appreciate any player who wasn’t completely committed to making the Cowboys the best they could be.
“When Deion came in, something changed for the worse,” Smith said. “Guys who should have been studying football on a Wednesday at 12 were focused on other things. Deion was such a freaky athlete that he could shake one leg and be ready to cover anyone. But the guys following his lead weren’t nearly as talented.”
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Regardless, Sanders enhanced the team dynamic with competitiveness, according to Garrett.
“Some of the best competitions I ever saw in practice were between Deion and Michael Irvin, one-on-one,” Garrett says. “It was something else. He brought a different energy.”
Both Hanks and Carrier remember Sanders watching tape right up until games began.
“He always didn’t have to study, but he was a studier,” Hanks says. “Literally minutes before going out on game day, he’d be studying film for any edge he could find. And that’s what you’re seeing in his coaching career.”
“He’s one of the few people I ever saw have video going in his locker all the time,” Carrier says. “He was always trying to find an edge.”
Sanders, in the opinion of Herock, understood what he was seeing on tape better than most. As a result of Sanders’ feel for personnel, Herock sometimes consulted him about cornerbacks and wide receivers. “He was pretty sharp in that regard,” Herock says.
Billick says Sanders showed an intuitive understanding of the game and could take a global view of the Ravens defense instead of focusing solely on his assignment. Hanks says he was an underrated student of the game. Schwantz and Garrett called him one of the smartest football players they were around.
Seven years ago, Garrett, then head coach of the Cowboys, found himself on an airplane with Sanders as both were returning to Dallas from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Sanders, who was broadcasting for NFL Network and coaching at Triple A Academy in Dallas, suggested that he talk to the Cowboys defensive backs. Garrett asked if he’d also be willing to speak with the coaching staff. Two days later, Sanders stood before the Cowboys coaches in the defensive meeting room at Valley Ranch and gave one of the best clinics Garrett ever has witnessed.
Sanders began by talking about a cornerback’s stance in press coverage and demonstrated his, getting low and waving his arms so his fingertips were grazing the ground.
“People used to say I did this because I was a hot dog,” Sanders told them. “No, that wasn’t it. It was about me making sure my knees were bent and my ass was down enough. That was my gauge to make sure I was as low as I needed to be.”
He went on to talk about where his eyes should go, wide receiver splits, how a cornerback can benefit from being aware of down and distance, how he played Cover 2 and press bail and much more.
Sanders talked for three hours and then spent another couple of hours on the field with the group.
“A lot of veteran coaches were looking at me like, ‘Holy s—,’” Garrett says. “It was just amazing, phenomenal.”
When Sanders was playing, all the attention was on his flash — his spectacular flash. Also evident but not often acknowledged were many qualities of a winning coach.
(Top illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; photos: John E. Moore III, David Madison, John Biever / Sports Illustrated, Mitchell Layton, Albert Dickson / Getty Images)
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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