Azeez al-Shaair #0 of the Houston Texans warms up prior to the game against the Cincinnati Bengals at NRG Stadium on September 20, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)
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In each week of the NFL season so far, Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair has worn eye black that bears the name of a Palestinian child slain during Israel's genocide in Gaza. When he did it in Week 1, the NFL fined him. During Week 2, a league official threatened to remove him from the game.
For the Texans' season opener against the Buffalo Bills, Al-Shaair's eye black bore the name of Hind Rajab, a 5-year-old girl who in 2024 was killed by Israeli forces in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza. After surviving an attack on a car she was riding in, Rajab phoned emergency workers to rescue her; the IDF bombed the ambulance, killing the paramedics en route. Weeks later, Rajab was found in the wrecked car, dead alongside six relatives. Israel initially denied that its troops were in the area of the incident, but admitted in August 2026 that its military had opened fire on the car.
"It's bigger to me. Is a life worth $11,000? I think it's priceless. An innocent man, an innocent woman, an innocent child losing their life is not right," Al-Shaair said, days after that game. "I don't think everybody knows what it's about. I think that was the point because before that, probably most of you guys might not even know who she was. That's kind of the point." Al-Shaair was referencing the $11,941 fine levied by the NFL, which in its rulebook prohibits players 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." Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving volunteered to pay Al-Shaair's fine, and the linebacker later confirmed that the two had been in touch recently.
In the Texans' Week 2 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Al-Shaair's eye black honored Wafaa Akila, an 8-year-old girl killed in the Al-Nasr neighborhood of Gaza on Sept. 6. She was returning from her first day of school with her father Yousef when the Israeli military struck their car with a drone. On Instagram, Al-Shaair shared a video of Akila's grieving grandmother.
As reported by Jonathan Jones of The Athletic this past Saturday, Al-Shaair took the field with the eye black, but when a league official saw it, the linebacker was told he would be removed from the game unless he changed it. Jones reported that Al-Shaair wasn't fined for his Week 2 eye black, however.
The day before Jones published his report, Defector had contacted the NFL to get clarity on whether Al-Shaair was being fined again in Week 2. When reached, NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy replied, "We will decline comment. Players may make public any fine if they wish." After Jones's report, we contacted McCarthy for additional comment, but he has yet to reply.
In the past, the NFL has threatened players for wearing equipment that violates the uniform policy, but it's difficult to find an example in which a player was banned from the game specifically over eye black. (We asked McCarthy for any examples but have not heard back.) During last season's playoffs, Al-Shaair was fined for wearing eye black that read "Stop the Genocide." Al-Shaair said he intended to wear the same message again for the Texans' next game but "was told that if I wore that in the game, I would be pulled out the game." At the time, he brought up the example of his former teammate Stefon Diggs, who would often wear customized eye black with Bible verses or other personal messages and just accept the fine.
"I understood that was a fine, but I ain't never seen Stef get pulled out of a game for having eye tape with writing on it," Al-Shaair said in January. At the time, Defector asked the league for clarity on that alleged disqualification, but did not receive comment.
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Al-Shaair continued the same practice with his eye black for Week 3, this time honoring Lana and Bana Ahmed, two Palestinian sisters reportedly killed along with their family in an Israeli airstrike earlier this month in Beit Lahia in Gaza. A review of footage from the game indicates that Al-Shaair wore the eye black in the pregame but removed it by kickoff. On his Instagram story, he posted a photo of the eye black, as well as a pair of cleats with the flags of Palestine and Sudan on the heels.