Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al‑Shaair has been fined $11,593 by the NFL for wearing eye black bearing the political message “stop the genocide" during last Monday’s wild‑card victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, ESPN reported Sunday.
According to the outlet, Al‑Shaair violated the league’s equipment rule prohibiting players from “wearing eye black that contained a personal message." He wore the message both during the game and in a postgame interview on SportsCenter, according to the New York Post.
The eye‑black message referenced the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas - an issue Al‑Shaair, who is Muslim, has highlighted previously through the NFL’s “My Cause My Cleats" initiative.
“I feel like it’s something that’s trying to be almost silenced," Al‑Shaair told the Houston Chronicle during the 2024 season. “On either side, people losing their life is not right. In no way, shape or form am I validating anything that happened, but to consistently say that because of [Oct. 7] innocent people [in Gaza] should now die, it’s crazy. [Other people] try to make a disconnect and dehumanize people over there. And it’s like, they’re human beings. Being a Muslim, we see everybody the same; Black, white, Spanish, whatever you are; you can be orange, like, we’re all human beings."
The fine marks another instance of the league enforcing its ban on political messaging through uniforms or equipment. Last season, the San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa was fined $11,255 for interrupting teammate Brock Purdy’s postgame interview while wearing a “Make America Great Again" hat supporting President Donald Trump weeks before the 2024 election.
Reports at the time noted that Bosa’s hat violated rule 5, section 4, article 8 of the NFL rulebook, which states that players “are prohibited from wearing, displaying, or otherwise conveying personal messages… unless such message has been approved in advance by the League office."
Al‑Shaair, 28, is in his seventh NFL season and earned his first Pro Bowl selection this year after recording 103 tackles and nine passes defended.