Iranians in NFL
(National Football League)
NFL
http://www.nfl.com
Talking about Iranian Celebrities! Hee Hee Hee, forget about Iranian Models, CEOs, Doctors, Scientists and Industrialists, thus we have plenty of them around, nothing new! Iranians have many selected brains, yet unfortunately the majority work outside Iran (Escape of the Brains)! With an Islamic Bang O Salavat or Rish O Pashm government, can you blame them?!
Thanks to Iranians, United States of America is blooming in the fields of Space Research, Hi-Tech, Medicine, Defense, Industry, Business and Engineering! Mullahs must be idiots to provide such an environment for all the top brains to escape to the west! So we have no shortage of Iranian celebrities in the west, but lets talk sports. Now if an Iranian makes it in Football (WAR on the Field), then that is called achievement! That is called Rare! That is admirable! Lets talk Football!
Steelers Fans
That's What I'm Talking About!
As you know my interest is Football. I am a retired football player. I played defense (Inside Line-Backer) @ college, local and Semi Pro levels. I love Football. The Football Field is the only place where you can legally hit and hurt people without getting arrested or go to jail! Many are mistakenly naming Christianity as religion of America, yet the fact is that Sex and Violence are America's official religion! For God's sake, our national game is Football & the game is practicaly WAR on the Field! It is the fullest of the Full Contact team sports! It is a Battle, where many get hit, injured, crippled and even die! Remember all the Detroit Lions players who got injured, crippled & died?! Damn I love violence! The only element better than sex is violence, & what better place than the football field?! What a rush indeed!
Raiders Fans!
That A boy, Perfect Canibals!
So without further due, lets check out some real Iranian Celebrities, cause Real Men play Football! Lets roll:
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Touraj Houshmandzadeh
Bengals
http://www.bengals.com
# 84 T.J. Houshmandzadeh
Full Name: Touraj Houshmandzadeh
Position: Wide Receiver
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 197 lbs
Born: September 26, 1977
College: Oregon State
NFL Experience: 5
Status: Active
Touraj Houshmandzadeh, Jr. or simply T.J. (born September 26, 1977 in Victorville, California) is an American football wide receiver for the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals. He was a seventh-round pick in the 2001 NFL draft by the Bengals.
Houshmandzadeh was a high school dropout who later earned his GED and enrolled at a junior college where he helped his team win two national championships. Believing he was too tall to play running back, he moved to receiver. Based on his junior college performance, Houshmandzadeh was offered a scholarship at Oregon State, where he and current Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson were teammates.
Houshmandzadeh missed almost all of the 2003 season with a severe hamstring injury. In 2003 he was listed as the team's third receiver. However, in 2004, Bengals receiver Peter Warrick went down with an injury and Houshmandzadeh was promoted to the #2 receiver spot for the first time in his career. He took full advantage of his opportunity to prove himself, recording 73 receptions for 978 yards and 4 touchdowns while also adding another 51 yards on the ground with 6 carries, mostly on on wide receiver reverse plays. With the release of the troubled Warrick during the 2005 training camp (he would later sign with the Seattle Seahawks,) T.J. Houshmandzadeh was promoted to the starting lineup. He is viewed as one of the reasons for the Bengals' resurgence and was rewarded by the Bengals' organization with a 5-year, $13 million contract and an undisclosed bonus.
Questions about Houshmandzadeh's speed arose in 2002, and that led to him slimming down to his current playing weight of 200 pounds, which increased his on-field performance markedly. T.J. Houshmandzadeh is a "possession" receiver (football parlance for a receiver who's not a particularly fast runner), and has been called one of the NFL's most underrated players by some broadcasters.
T.J. Houshmandzadeh is of mixed ancestry — Persian and African American. He is named after his father, a native Iranian, who left his family and returned to Iran in the mid-1980's. Houshmandzadeh says he recalls nothing of his biological father and knows only what he looks like from photographs. Despite being raised by his mother, he took on his father's surname rather than his mother's, which, ironically is "Johnson," which is a common surname on the Bengals team, shared by running backs Rudi and Jeremi, receiver Chad, and linebacker Landon.
In the offseason, Houshmandzadeh resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Kaci, and his two daughters, Karrington (5) and Kennedi (3). Although he tends to keep his faith private, Houshmandzadeh has mentioned that he is a Christian
Almost every time there would be a conflict between the United States and an Arab nation, Touraj Houshmandzadeh knew what was coming:
''Tell your Uncle Saddam to quit trippin'. Tell your "people' to quit trippin,'' he said they would say.
And Houshmandzadeh, the son of an Iranian father and an African American mother, would just laugh. After all, it was usually the friends of the Bengals rookie wideout who would be making the gags. The 6-foot-1 receiver would grin, shrug, maybe give a playful shove in return.
But what about now?
What about people incensed over the terrorist attacks that killed thousands Tuesday in New York City and Washington, D.C., attacks that appeared to have some Arabic connection? What about people who see the pony-tailed wide receiver and jump to the wrong conclusion?
''Do I care? No. Do I worry? No,'' Houshmandzadeh said after Thursday afternoon's practice at Paul Brown Stadium.
''All that stuff seems unreal to me. Like it's coming out of a movie or something. I don't know. I never really thought about it. I've seen how certain people were calling people of ethnicity, calling their homes and calling their businesses, and threatening them (after the bombing). But it never really dawned on me if someone did it to me.
''I mean, I don't consider myself an (Iranian-American). I wasn't brought up, really, being a part of that. As far as me, I don't care. I can handle it. It's a part of me, but it never really was a part of me.''
In fact, about the only Iranian element Houshmandzadeh, who prefers to go by T.J., still has in his life is his name.
He took both the first and last parts from his birth father, a father he has never really known. Touraj Sr. met T.J.'s mother, Deborah Johnson, at San Diego State University. T.J. was born in September 1977. Touraj Sr. wanted to marry Deborah, she later told her son, but he also wanted to move the family to Iran. When she declined, Touraj left. T.J. hasn't seen him since he was at least 2 years old. Maybe younger.
''I don't remember actually seeing him or meeting him at all,'' said T.J., the Bengals' seventh-round draft pick out of Oregon State. ''I've seen pictures, but I . . . never have been in touch with him in person.''
Houshmandzadeh was raised in Southern California; he grew up in Barstow considering himself black. And a Christian.
''Growing up, everybody thought of me as black,'' Houshmandzadeh said. ''Then they'd look at my last name and I'd tell them (the origins of it). I carried myself as if I were black.''
T.J. was as shaken as any of the Bengals in the wake of Tuesday's tragedy. Houshmandzadeh had hoped to fly to California sometime in the next two weeks to visit his baby daughter but is wary of airline security.
''I know I don't want to fly anytime soon, I'll tell you that,'" he said. ''Security is going to be real beefed up, I guess, but you can't monitor everything that goes on.''
Houshmandzadeh admitted that recent events might even force him to think twice about meeting others who are of Arabic descent.
''Before, I don't think you would even (be suspicious) at all. You wouldn't think, "What is he going to do?' '' T.J. said. ''But maybe now you might.''
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Ali Haji-Sheikh
Redskins
http://www.redskins.com/
Ali Haji-Sheikh
Position: Kicker
Status: Retired
Teams:
Giants, Falcons, Redskins
November 7, 1983 Ali Haji-Sheikh kicks his 2nd New York Giant record 56 yard field goal
Played for:
1983 New York Giants
1984 New York Giants
1985 New York Giants
1986 Atlanta Falcons
1987 Washington Redskins
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Shahriar Pourdanesh
Steelers
http://media3.steelers.com
# 99 Shar Pourdanesh
Full Name: Shahriar Pourdanesh
Position: Offensive Tackle
Height: 6' 6"
Weight: 312 lbs
Born: July 19, 1972 Teheran, Iran
College: Nevada
NFL Experience: 6 years
Status: Retired
Teams:
1996 - 2000 Washington Redskins
2001 - 2002 Pittsburgh Steelers
Shahriar Pourdanesh
Offensive Lineman,
Washington Redskins / Pittsburgh Steelers
Shar Pourdanesh had a normal childhood in Teheran, Iran, in the late 1970s.
As normal a childhood, that is, as one could have in a nation that was imploding.
He rode his bike and his skateboard. He played video games. He also obeyed martial law because he saw the bodies of those who didn't. He saw the riots. He saw the fear on his parents' faces.
At 6-foot-4, 326 pounds, he almost certainly will make it as a left offensive tackle for the Washington Redskins and the NFL's first native Iranian.
He has become one of the most popular players on the team. The other night, players began chanting ``Shar ... Shar ... Shar,'' the unofficial call for rookies to stand and sing their alma mater.
Reluctantly, Pourdanesh stood, then told the team he would sing the Russian national anthem instead. Pourdanesh uttered some gibberish, but did it with such gusto that his teammates loved it. He speaks three languages. Who knew Russian wasn't one of them?
``He's a fun-loving guy,'' quarterback Gus Frerotte says. ``The guys have really taken to him.''
And he to them. But Pourdanesh clearly remembers his roots and the pain that came with being of Iranian descent.
His family left Teheran when he was 9. Now 26, he hasn't seen nearly 40 of his relatives since.
His two sisters arrived in California in 1979 to attend Catholic school. He, his father and mother hopscotched through Europe for 3 1/2 years before getting visas to join them in the United States.
But leaving Iran behind was no simple task. Once, Pourdanesh was leaving a building in Hamburg, Germany, on a holiday similar to our 4th of July. When he heard fireworks, Pourdanesh threw himself to the ground, hands covering his head, reflexively quaking at what might come next.
``The worst part was that I knew they were firecrackers,'' he says, ``and this was a year after I had left Iran. I thought, `Boy, am I really messed up.' ''
In 1983, the family arrived in Costa Mesa, Calif. Pourdanesh, who was in the eighth grade, barely spoke English. Changing classes one day, a student bumped into him. Instead of apologizing, he asked Pourdanesh if he was from Iran. Pourdanesh said yes and ducked an instant before his face was used for a punching bag.
Daily for the next couple of years, Pourdanesh says, kids challenged him to fight.
``I had so much pride I'd tell myself I couldn't back down,'' Pourdanesh said. ``I'd get one guy, then his older brother would come up with his friends and we'd go. I finally developed a plan. I'd go right at the biggest guy. The others would join in, but I figured if I had the biggest guy in my hands, there wasn't much the rest would do.
``One time, there were three of them, and one guy stripped the cover off an umbrella. I was on the ground with the biggest guy, rolling, and this guy with the umbrella would whip that at my head.
``It was like, `punch, punch, duck . . . punch, punch, duck.' I developed a pretty good sense of timing.''
From eighth grade until his sophomore year in high school, Pourdanesh had no friends, just bitter, faceless enemies. Sometimes, teachers would escort him between classes for protection. Sometimes, they just let him go. When school administrators did anything, he says, they suspended him for fighting.
``I've never disliked this country. I did dislike the people who were doing that to me, because they didn't know me,'' he says of his classmates.
Pourdanesh never asked his parents to leave America because ``you don't go through four years of living in hotels, then leave a country that offers what this one does.''
In middle school, Pourdanesh stood 5-9. As a high school sophomore in Irvine, Calif., however, he was 6-4, 180 pounds and an excellent wrestler. He went to the weight room one day and asked the attendant if he could join a friend who was pumping iron.
``Turns out he was the football coach,'' Pourdanesh says, laughing. ``He suddenly put his arm around me and began telling me that I should play football for him. I could get a college scholarship. I could someday sign a big professional contract. It was all bull.''
Except that it came true.
Pourdanesh had two college scholarship offers for wrestling and one for football - from Nevada-Reno. In wrestling, his father reminded him, the Olympics were the end of the line. In football, there was the NFL.
Only it wasn't that easy.
After college, Pourdanesh had a tryout with the Cleveland Browns, but was cut. He went back to Reno, finished his degree and figured he was done with football.
That was fine. He missed his Reno friends too much to devote his life to a game.
Then he watched a friend on the Browns play ``and I said, `Oh my God, what have you done?' It was the first time I realized how much I loved football, that I wanted to have a career.''
An opposing coach he knew from college had just accepted a job as offensive line coach for the Canadian Football League's Baltimore franchise. He saw Pourdanesh's name on the waiver wire and called.
``He told me, `You stay here two years and they'll be begging for you back in the NFL,' '' Pourdanesh said.
He was right. Pourdanesh was All-CFL two straight years and the league's lineman of the year in '94.
The Redskins found him when they saw he was in Washington to process papers to play for the London Monarchs of the WLAF. They asked him to come by Redskin Park before he left the country. Tight ends coach Russ Grimm gave him a workout. Pourdanesh never made it to the airport.
``I really like him, but you're always concerned about a lineman until you see him perform in pads,'' offensive line coach Jim Hanifan said. ``He's held up his end. He's got a tremendous work ethic, is very smart and coachable and he's some kind of tough. He's an excellent prospect.''
Pourdanesh is closing the gap behind starter Joe Patton. He soon could win the job as starting left tackle. At worst, he's the first sub.
``Sure, I think I'm living a dream,'' he says. ``Two years ago, I thought I was out of football for sure. Now, I'm getting paid to do something I love. God willing, for this season and many more to come, I'll get paid for having fun.''
Shahriar Pourdanesh (known as Shar Pourdanesh to his many Redskin fans), was born in Iran. He came to the United States with his family after leaving Iran during the Iranian revolution in 1979. He attended University High School in Irvine, California where he was an all-league offensive lineman and was the fourth-ranked heavyweight wrestler in the state. He attended college at the University of Nevada in Reno where he was a dominant offensive lineman. As a senior in 1992, he was named to the first team All-Conference for the Big West Conference.
Shar joined the Redskins after two seasons with the Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and is the first Iranian to play NFL football. In 1994 Shar was named CFL Offensive Lineman of the Year for the Baltimore Stallions and was named to the CFL all-star team in 1994 and 1995. During the 1996 Redskins' season Shar proved a very versatile player, playing both left tackle and right tackle.
Pourdanesh played some solid games for Steelers (2001-2002) and retired a Pittsburgh Steeler.
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Go Football