Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair punished by NFL for pro-Palestine gesture
· Yahoo Sports
The NFL fined Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair $11,492 for displaying a pro-Palestine message on his eye black.
The letters ‘Hind Rajab’ adorned Al-Shaair’s eye black for the Texans’ NFL Week 1 game against the Buffalo Bills as a sign of support for the plight of the Palestinian people.
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The NFL has stuck to its rules on players displaying unauthorised messages and has punished Al-Shaair for the second time in 2026.
NFL’s latest round of punishments penalises Azeez Al-Shaair
Texans beat reporter Aaron Wilson revealed that Shaair was among four Texans players to be fined by the NFL after their Week 1 loss to the Bills.
“Several Texans players fined by NFL, including Azeez Al-Shaair, for pro-Palestine eye black message. Middle linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair fined $11,492 for unauthorized message on eye black Sunday vs. Bills.”
Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty ImagesThe other Texans players who were fined were David Montgomery ($11,491) for an unauthorised logo on his cleats, Mario Edwards Jr. ($8,923) for roughing the passer, and Trent Brown ($5,971) for socks that didn’t cover his lower leg.
Shaair’s ‘Hind Rajab’ message violated Rule 6, Section 4, Article 8 of the NFL rulebook.
“Throughout the period on game day that a player is visible to the stadium and television audience (including in pregame warmups, in the bench area, and during postgame interviews in the locker room or on the field), players are prohibited from wearing, displaying, or otherwise conveying personal messages either in writing or illustration, unless such message has been approved in advance by the League office.”
Texans’ Al-Shaair was also punished in 2026 for a pro-Palestine message
This is the second time Al-Shaair has been punished by the NFL for pro-Palestine messaging.
Al-Shaair was fined $11,593 for a ‘Stop the Genocide’ eye black message in January before a Texans playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
His messages have been increasingly sympathetic to the plight of Palestinian citizens amid their conflict with Israel.
He has previously expressed joy over using his platform to spread these messages in a time of conflict, so the second fine was something the linebacker probably expected.
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