NFL star Azeez Al-Shaair fires back at critics after fine for wearing pro-Palestine message on TV
Controversial Houston Texans star Azeez Al-Shaair has defended his decision to wear a pro-Palestine message live on ESPN, insisting it was for a cause that’s ‘bigger than me’.
Al-Shaair, who has a long history of NFL violations, was fined by the league last week for displaying ‘Stop the Genocide’ on his eye black during Houston’s 30-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and while carrying out his postgame interview.
According to the NFL rulebook, players are strictly prohibited from conveying personal or political messages ‘either in writing or illustration’ unless approved in advance.
The league office states it will not grant permission for messages relating to ‘political activities or causes’, meaning Al-Shaair was hit with an $11,593 fine for his apparent reference to the Israel and Gaza conflict.
However, the linebacker, who is Muslim, told reporters after their playoff defeat to the New England Patriots on Sunday: ‘I knew that that was a fine. I understood what I was doing.
‘But I was told that if I wore that in the game I would be pulled out the game, so I think that was probably the part I was confused about.’
Texans star Azeez Al-Shaair has defended his decision to wear a pro-Palestine message
Al-Shaair caused a stir by displaying ‘Stop the Genocide’ on his eye black live on ESPN
The linebacker previously wore cleats supporting Palestine for the NFL’s ‘My Cause My Cleats’
Al-Shaair then continued: ‘At the end of the day, it’s bigger than me. The things that are going through makes people uncomfortable, imagine how (Palestinians) feel? That’s the biggest thing.
‘I have no affiliation, no connection, to these people – other than the fact that I am a human being. If you have a heart and you’re a human being, and you see what’s going on in this world, you check yourself real quick.
‘I’m sitting here crying about football when there’s people dying every single day.’
This isn’t the first time that the Texans linebacker has used his platform to speak out on the topic. Al-Shaair previously wore custom cleats supporting Palestinians for the NFL’s ‘My Cause My Cleats’ campaign.
Those shoes featured the words ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Surely to Allah we belong and to Him we will all return.’
They also displayed the number of Palestinian lives reportedly lost in the war with Israel.
‘I feel like it’s something that’s trying to be almost silenced,’ Al-Shaair told the Houston Chronicle at the time.
‘On either side, people losing their life is not right,’ he added.
‘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.’
