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Ali Haji-Sheikh and Shar Pourdanesh share that they are retired NFL players living beyond the glow of the NFL spotlight. But they also share another distinction that ties them to current events: They are part of the Iranian diaspora that hopes for the fall of the Islamic revolution.
They are among a small group of men who played in the NFL — along with David Bakhtiari, his brother Eric Bakhtiari and TJ Housmandzadeh — who are deceased Iranians.
Washington Redskins kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh (6) speaks with reporters at Jack Murphy Stadium during media day ahead of Super Bowl XXII against the Denver Broncos. San Diego, Calif., January 26, 1988. (Darr Beiser/USA TODAY Sports)
Haji-Sheikh: self-determination of 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 scoring six extra points in a 42-10 blowout of the Denver Broncos.
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Today, Haji-Sheikh is the general manager of a Porsche-Audi dealership in Michigan and is like the rest of us: he stays abreast of world events when time permits.
Except the war the United States is currently waging against the Islamic Republic of Iran is a little different because Haji-Sheikh’s father emigrated to the United States from Iran in the 1950s and built his life here.
And his son would like to see freedom come to a country he has never visited but with which he has family ties.
“This is a global event,” Haji-Sheikh said Monday. “I’m not a big fan of the Islamic revolution because I’m not Islamic. I would like to see the Iranian people be able to determine their own future rather than having it determined by a few people. It would be nice to see them have a stable government where the people can actually decide how they want things to be.”
Green Bay Packers kicker Al Del Greco (10) talks with New York Giants kicker Ali Haji-Sheikh (6) on September 15, 1985, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers beat the Giants 23-20.
Iranians celebrate and Americans protest
Haji-Sheikh did not take to the streets of his native Michigan to celebrate a liberation that was not fully manifested just days after the American and Israeli bombings and the elimination of the Ayatollah.
“I’m so far from it,” Haji-Sheikh said. “My mother is from Michigan and of Eastern European descent. My father is from Iran. But it’s like he hadn’t come back since I was in eighth grade, so that was a long time ago. That was when the Shah was still in power, in the mid-’70s, 1974 or 1975, because if he had come back after that, he never would have left. They would have kept him, so there was no intention to come back.
“But if things change he might want to go, you never know.”
Although he is far from any activism on what is happening in Iran, Haji-Sheikh is an astute observer.
“My favorite thing to see right now on television is Iranians in America celebrating, because there is a chance, a glimpse, maybe a hope of freedom,” Haji-Sheikh said. “And there are these people protesting in New York. What are you protesting against?”
Pourdanesh thanks America and Israel
Pourdanesh retired from the NFL in 2000 after a seven-year career with the Redskins and Steelers. The six-foot-six, 312-pound offensive tackle was born in Tehran. He proudly tells people that he was the first NFL player born in Iran.
Pourdanesh is much more visible and open than others about his feelings about his country. And, ultimately, he loves it when President Donald Trump bombs the Islamic regime.
“This is a great day for all Iranians in the world,” Pourdanesh said on his Instagram account on Saturday at the start of the war. “Thank you, President Trump, thank you to the nation of Israel. Thank you to everyone who stood up for my people, my brothers and sisters in Iran around the world. This is a great day.
“The infamous dictator is dead – the one person who contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iranians and others 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 isolated. Pourdanesh has been reporting on what’s been happening in Iran since January, when Iranians took to the streets demanding freedom and government thugs began killing them, with some estimates as high as 36,500 dead.
Offensive lineman Shar Pourdanesh (68) of the Pittsburgh Steelers blocks defensive lineman Jevon Kearse (90) of the Tennessee Titans during a game at Three Rivers Stadium on September 24, 2000, in Pittsburgh. The Titans beat the Steelers 23-20. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
“Islam does not represent the Iranian people”
“[The] The Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people,” Pourdanesh said in another message. “Islam does not represent the Iranian people. For almost 50 years, the Iranian people and our country, Iran, have been held hostage by a terrorist regime, and it is time to overthrow this regime. »
Pourdanesh was not available for comment Monday. I spoke 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.
One complained that media reporting on reparations to black Americans based on slavery in the 1800s dismissed the 1979 Islamic takeover of the U.S. embassy as an old grievance.
Another said his brother lives in England, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer immediately called US and Israeli attacks on the Ayatollah’s regime “unlawful”, but, as head of the Crown Prosecution Service, took years to do the same to Muslim rape (grooming) gangs in the country.
(Starmer announced a national “statutory inquiry” in June 2025).
Washington Redskins offensive lineman Shar Pourdanesh watches from the sideline during a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium on September 7, 1997 in Pittsburgh. The Steelers beat the Redskins 14-13. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
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Pourdanesh denounces NFL silence
And finally, Pourdanesh blew up the NFL. He said in another post that during his career the NFL asked him to honor black history, asked him to stand up for women’s rights, asked him to fight for equality for those who couldn’t defend themselves.
“I’ve done everything they’ve asked, and now I ask the NFL this: Where are you now? Why haven’t we heard a single word from the NFL? NFL, Commissioner Roger Goodell, every NFL team, every player who says they stand for social justice, where are you now?
“Why haven’t we heard a single word from you about the people who have been killed until today? The very values you claim to espouse are being trampled on right now. Why haven’t we heard a single word?”
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