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Ali Haji-Sheikh and Shar Pourdanesh share the fact that they are retired NFL players who live outside the glare of the NFL spotlight. But they also share another distinction that ties them to current events: They are part of the Iranian diaspora hoping for the demise of the Islamic Revolution.
They are part of 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) talks to reporters at Jack Murphy Stadium during media day before Super Bowl XXII against the Denver Broncos. San Diego, Calif., 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 1983 NFL All-Rookie team for the Giants and in his final season won a Super Bowl XXII ring playing for the Washington Redskins and kicked six extra points in a 42-10 blowout of the Denver Broncos.
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Now the general manager of a Porsche-Audi dealership in Michigan, Haji-Sheikh is like the rest of us: keeping up with world events when time permits.
Except the war the US is currently waging against the Islamic Republic of Iran is somewhat different because Haji-Sheikh’s father emigrated from Iran to the US in the 1950s and built a life here.
And his son wants to see freedom come to a country he has never visited, but is related to.
“It’s a world event,” Haji-Sheikh said Monday. “I’m not a big fan of the Islamic revolution because I’m not Islamic. I’d like to see the people of Iran decide their own future rather than it being decided by a few people. It would be nice to see them have 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 September 15, 1985 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers defeated the Giants 23-20.
Iranians celebrate and Americans protest
Haji-Sheikh has not taken to the streets in his native Michigan to celebrate a liberation that has not fully manifested itself days after the American and Israeli bombing and elimination of the Ayatollah.
“I’m so far away 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 hasn’t been back since I was in the eighth grade, so it’s been a long time. That was when the Shah was still in power, in the mid-’70s, ’74 or ’75, because if he ever went back after that, he never would have left. They wouldn’t have held him 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 a keen observer.
“My favorite thing I see right now on TV is the Iranians in America celebrating because there is a chance, a glimmer, maybe a hope of freedom,” Haji-Sheikh said. “And you have these people in New York protesting. What are you protesting?”
Pourdanesh Thank you America, 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 he was the NFL’s first Iranian-born player.
Pourdanesh is much more visible and open about his feelings for 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 around the world,” Pourdanesh wrote on his Instagram account on Saturday when the war began. “Thank you, President Trump, thank you to the nation of Israel. Thank you to everyone who has stood up for my people, my brothers and sisters in Iran around the world. It’s a great day.
“The infamous dictator is dead – the one person who contributed to the death 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 the country back.”
This message was not a one-time message. Pourdanesh has written about what has been happening in Iran since January, when people in Iran took to the streets demanding freedom and government thugs began killing them, with some estimates rising to 36,500 deaths.
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Shar Pourdanesh (68) blocks against Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jevon Kearse (90) during a game at Three Rivers Stadium on September 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] The Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people,” Pourdanesh said in another post. “Islam does not represent the Iranian people. For nearly 50 years, the Iranian people and our country Iran have been held hostage by a terrorist regime, and it is time to bring that regime down.”
Pourdanesh was unavailable for comment Monday. I spoke with 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 reparations to black Americans based on 19th century slavery dismiss the Islamic takeover of the US embassy in 1979 as an old grievance.
Another said his brother lives in England, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer immediately called the US and Israeli attacks on the ayatollah’s regime “illegal”, but as head of the Crown Prosecution Service took years to do the same with Muslim rape 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 defeated the Redskins 14-13. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
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Pourdanesh calls NFL Silence
And finally, Pourdanesh put the NFL on the air. 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 cannot defend themselves.
“I did everything they asked and now I’m asking the NFL this: Where are you now? Why haven’t we heard a single word from the NFL? The 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 from you regarding the people who were killed today? The very values ​​you claim to stand for are being trampled right now. Why haven’t we heard a single word?”
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