Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for a US Senate seat in Michigan, is facing criticism after a 2021 blog post resurfaced in which he linked American football to "toxic masculinity". The piece, highlighted in a report by The Midwesterner, has drawn attention as El-Sayed campaigns for the Senate, with critics seizing on his past remarks about US sports culture and traditional masculinity.

The Substack post was reportedly written around the time a former Las Vegas Raiders coach was embroiled in controversy, prompting El-Sayed to criticise the sport more broadly. The resurfacing of the writing has become a talking point for opponents seeking to characterise his views as out of step with mainstream sporting culture, though further detail on his full comments and any response from his campaign was not available in the source material.