When Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair suited up against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2 on Sunday Night Football, he made sure to continue honouring the innocent Palestinian children who have lost their lives in the Israel-Palestine conflict in Gaza.
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As Azeez Al-Shaair stepped onto the field, he had “Wafaa Akila” inscribed across his eye black tape as a tribute to the 8-year-old Wasaa Yousef Akila who was killed on September 6, 2026.
After finishing classes on her very first day of the school year on September 6th, eight-year-old Wafaa Yousef Akila climbed into her father’s car to buy new notebooks, pens, and school supplies she needed for school.
She never made it home to pack them into a backpack as an Israeli airstrike hit the vehicle in western Gaza City’s Al-Nasr neighborhood. Wafaa and her father, Yousef, both lost their lives on the spot as her brand-new stationery lay scattered around the wreckage.
Azeez Al-Shaair has made it a point to send a strong humanitarian message across the NFL broadcast and landscape every chance he gets. The previous 2 times, he has been fined for it.
Back in January 2026, the NFL fined Al-Shaair $11,593 for writing “Stop the Genocide” across his eye black during Houston’s wild-card playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The next week in the divisional round vs. the New England Patriots, Azeez Al-Shaair sported the same look and message in the pre-game warmups.
But he removed it for the game after being warned by the officials that he would be removed from the game if he played with the eye black with the message on it.
Then in Week 1 of the 2026 season, the trend continued for Al-Shaair. Against the Buffalo Bills, despite the loss, all eyes were on the NFL fining him another $11,492 for honoring 5-year-old Hind Rajab, another victim of the Israel-Palestine conflict, on his eye-black strip.
This punishment prompted NBA superstar Kyrie Irving to publicly offer to cover the fine in solidarity with the humanitarian cause. This proves that Azeez Al-Shaair’s stance is resonating beyond just the NFL.
Following Week 1’s stance, Azeez Al-Shaair addressed reporters on why he uses his NFL platform to highlight fallen victims despite the fines he incurs upon himself.
“It’s bigger to me. Is a life worth $11,000? I think it’s priceless… 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 (Kyrie 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,” Azeez Al-Shaair concluded.