Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed is facing renewed scrutiny over comments questioning whether American football is an “ethical” sport. The remarks appeared in a resurfaced audio clip shared online Monday by the Republican Party.
During a 2023 podcast appearance, the Michigan Democrat raised concerns about football’s potential connection to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, as well as what he described as links between the sport, toxic masculinity and violence.
“What is it about this brutal sport that keeps us coming back?” El-Sayed said in the recording. “Is there a version of football that’s actually ethical and safe? What would need to change?”
El-Sayed has criticized aspects of football before. Earlier this month, he released a video focusing on the rising cost of attending NFL games.
In the video, El-Sayed throws and catches a football while discussing the price of tickets and the additional money fans spend on stadium concessions.
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“It’s gotten way too expensive,” he said. “That means that something that’s supposed to bring us all together, like football, separates those who have and those who have not.”
He also pointed to public subsidies for many football stadiums, arguing that ticket prices have continued to rise despite taxpayer support.
In an October 2021 post, El-Sayed wrote that “the toxic masculinity at the heart of America’s most popular sport — and men’s sports culture more generally — is way deeper than a few emails or a Jay-Z turnaround.”
The Democratic Senate candidate played football as a child and served as captain of his high school team. He has described sports as his “lifeline.”
Although El-Sayed has criticized what he calls toxic elements of male sports culture, he has also defended masculinity and criticized Democrats for speaking dismissively about men. His campaign has frequently included fitness-related content as he seeks to connect with male voters.
Fox News Digital has contacted El-Sayed for comment.
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