Nothing gets in the way of Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair when it comes to things he wants to stand up for. The NFL has already fined him $11,941, citing a ‘uniform violation’ for writing the name of Hind Rajab – a five-year-old Palestinian girl who died in Gaza in 2024 – on his eye black in Week 1. In Week 2, he decided to honor another girl – Wafaa Akila – an eight-year-old who faced a similar tragic fate. Now, as Al-Shaair faces the Indianapolis Colts in Week 3, his tradition has continued.
“Azeez Al-Shaair continues to put names of slain Palestinian children on his eye black despite threats from the NFL,” The Sporting News reported on Sunday. “Al-Shaair has worn the names of Hind Rajab, Wafaa Akila and Lana & Bana Ahmed.”
His tribute actually began well before kickoff. Some time before the Week 3 kickoff, Al-Shaair took to his Instagram to share a post as his story honoring 12-year-old Lana and her sister, 8-year-old Bana Ahmed, who died with their family in the conflict.
“Lana and Bana Ahmed they were martyred with their family, and no one survived,” Shaair shared in his story.
In the very next story, Al-Shaair featured a picture of his eye black for the Week 3 game, where he wrote “Lana/Bana Ahmed.”
The initial story was originally a post by an IG account, ‘Free Gaza Circus Center,’ from 11th September, which shared a picture of the two girls along with a brief report on the tragedy that befell their family.
“The two young girls, Lana and Bana Ahmed, were living with their parents in what remained of the family’s destroyed home, near the Yellow Line in the Beit Lahia project,” the account captioned their post. “Last night, warplanes targeted the house, killing the entire family: the father, the mother, and the two girls, Lana and Bana. No one survived…”
Going back to Azeez Al-Shaair, his Week 2 tribute had already prompted an NFL official to ask him to remove the name of Akila from his eye black or risk being ejected from the game, per a report by The Athletic. He wasn’t fined in Week 2, though. And as for his Week 1 fine, NBA star Kyrie Irving had publicly declared that he’d pay Al-Shaair’s fine. When asked about the fine last week, the 29-year-old linebacker made his stance crystal clear.
“It’s bigger to me. Is a life worth $11,000? I think it’s priceless,” Al-Shaair said. “You can’t get so lost in your own problems that you can’t have compassion for other people in the world…I think the biggest thing is me and him (Irving) align on the cause, which is humanity. We both care about humanity, regardless of skin color, race, anything like that. That’s what I think more than anything, when it comes to me and him, that we align on, and just not being afraid to do that.”
“We don’t have to have all the answers to everything to know that an innocent man, an innocent woman, an innocent child losing her life is not right. I don’t need anybody to gaslight me into saying that, well, you’ve got to ask. I just know that’s not right, whether they’re here in America or somewhere halfway across the world.”
Now, the league’s stance is quite clear on the matter – and it doesn’t just apply to Azeez Al-Shaair. His eyeblack message is a violation of Rule 5 from Section 4:
“For any other violation of this Section 4 (e.g., wristbands and mouthpieces that are not League-approved, towel with a personal message, impermissible headwear under the helmet) that is discovered while the player is in the game, player will be advised to make appropriate correction at the next change of possession; if the violation is not corrected, player will not be permitted to enter the game.”
As the Texans face off against the Colts, Al-Shaair was briefly sidelined with a groin injury, with the initial reports suggesting he’s questionable to return. But he came back to the field and logged a tackle to end the half.