Houston Texans linebacker Aziz Al-Shaair’s job on the field is to defend and help his team win, and over his eight seasons in the NFL, he’s done just that for the 49ers, Titans and the Texans.
But this past January, Aziz showed a different side, one that NFL players aren’t supposed to openly display on the field during a game.
Compassion for others.
Last January, during a playoff win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh, Al-Shaair wore “Stop the Genocide” on his eye black, referring to the genocide occurring to the Palestinian community in Gaza. In response, the NFL fined him $11,593 for, per ESPN, “violating NFL uniform and equipment rules by wearing eye black that contained a personal message.”
In the following game against New England, he wore the messaging again during warmups but not during the game as he was informed that if he wore it again, he wouldn’t be able to play.
But even in warmups, his message was delivered.
“If my platform can bring even a little hope to families in Palestine, then that is what I want to use it for,” said Aziz earlier during the 2025 season.
It wasn’t the first time the linebacker showed his concern for what’s happening to Palestinians.
During the past few seasons, he wore cleats to support the effort to end the genocide through the league’s “My Cause, My Cleats” program.
Last week during the team’s game against Buffalo, Al-Shaair wrote “Hind Rajab” on his eye black in honor of the 5-year-old girl killed, along with her family, by the Israeli military in 2024, a story documented in the 2025 film “The Voice of Hind Rajab”.
That earned him another fine from the league of $11,492.
On Sunday in the Texans’ game against the Bengals, Al-Shaair, undaunted by the fines, wore “Wafaa Akila” on his eye black in honor of the 8-year-old girl murdered, along with her father, by the Israeli military on September 6th in Gaza City as they were headed out after the first day of school.
While we’re sure he will be getting another letter from the league, we’re also sure that he doesn’t care because his purpose is far greater than league fines.
“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,” said Aziz after the game against the Bills.
His compassion far outweighs the league’s uniform equipment rules, and that’s why he decided to continue with the messaging.
His actions are an appeal to the hearts, humanity and common decency that far too many lack in these times, where the deaths of tens of thousands of people, especially innocent children, are being overlooked by the powers that be because they have their sights set on seizing the land for a billion-dollar ocean front development project.
While Aziz’s commitment to bring attention to the horrors happening in the region has yet to catch on with others in the NFL, his stance caught the attention of Kyrie Irving, who shares the same compassion as Aziz and offered to pay his fine.
“I think the biggest thing is me and him [Kyrie] 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.”
Kyrie, like Aziz, is a Muslim and has been known to help others through scholarship donations and other forms of caring for those in need.
And the Palestinian community is one group both men care deeply about.
“At the end of the day, it’s bigger than me, the things that are going on,” Al-Shaair said last January. “If it makes people uncomfortable, imagine how those people feel. I think that’s the biggest thing. I have no affiliation, no connection to these people other than the fact that I’m a human being. If you have a heart, then you are a human being and you can see what’s going on in the world and check yourself real quick. When I’m walking off this field,that’s the type of stuff that goes through my head that I have to check myself when I’m sitting here crying about football when there’s people dying every day.”
Aziz Al-Shaair’s faith and spirit won’t let him sit quietly while innocents are being murdered. He’s prepared to keep reminding everyone of the genocide that’s happening in Gaza and is willing to take a financial hit to make sure they’re aware of it.
