Democratic US Senate Nominee Abdul El-Sayed Claims ‘Toxic Masculinity’ At Heart Of Football

August 11, 2026 1:30 PM ET What a goof this guy is.Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic nominee to represent Michigan in the U.S. Senate, made the argument that “toxic masculinity” is at the heart of football. He also said that racism, homophobia and misogyny exists in the culture of the sport. And get this, he used to play football himself in high school. (RELATED: Teddy Bridgewater Retires, Lions Pivot To Joshua Dobbs For Backup Quarterback Duties)The comments were made by El-Sayed in a Substack post from 2021, with the left-winger responding to then-Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden resigning from his job. Gruden had emails that became public that contained language considered racist, homophobic and misogynistic.“The toxic masculinity at the heart of America’s most popular sport — and men