NFL fines Azeez Al-Shaair for “stop the genocide” message on black eye
During last Monday night’s wild card win over the Steelers, Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair wore black blindfolds with the message: “stop killing people.”
By Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, NFL fined Al-Shaair $11,593 in violation of the league’s rule against personal messages.
The fine was not on the list of various fines for the six card games, which the league posted on Saturday. The weekly fines announced by the league are only related to situations involving the rules of the field.
Al-Shaair wore the message before Sunday’s game against the Patriots, but not during it.
The message “stop the genocide” is related to the operation of the Israeli army in Gaza, following the terrorist attack in October 2023. Israel has denied the allegations that it was involved in the massacre because of the October 2023 incident. In recent years, Al-Shaair has supported Palestinian causes. with the campaign “My Reason, My Resignation”.
“If my platform can bring a little hope to Palestinian families, that’s what I want to use it for,” Al-Shaair said during the 2025 regular season.
After Sunday’s game, Al-Shaair said he knew he would be fined for this message. He went on to say that he was told that he would be kicked out of the match against the Patriots, if he wore this message again.
“At the end of the day, bigger than me,” Al-Shaair told reporters after the game. “But the things that are happening make people uncomfortable. Imagine how those people feel. I think that is a very big thing. I have no side, I have no connection with these people, except that I am human.”
He also raised the question of why some players (he specifically mentioned current Patriots and former Texans wide receiver Stefon Diggs) were allowed to play despite repeatedly wearing messages on their black eyes. It seems like a lot of players are doing it now. At one time, the NFL had a very strict policy against it – to the point where such messages (regardless of their content) were rarely seen during games.
In 2024, the league fined 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa $11,255 wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat on the field after the October 27 game. The unit announced the fine after the election.
Legal regulations assume a certain amount of freedom when it comes to personal messages. From Rule 5, Section 4, Article 8 of the NFL rulebook: “At all times during game day when a player is visible to the stadium and television audience (including pre-game warm-ups, in the bench area, and during post-game interviews in the locker room or on the field), players are prohibited from wearing, displaying, or conveying a pre-written message or personal image. League office. Anniversary or memorable events, or honoring or commemorating certain individuals, such as helmets, and jersey bands on players’ uniforms, are prohibited unless approved in advance by the League office messages, through helmets, armbands, jersey clips, mouthpieces, or other items attached to game uniforms or accessories, related to political activities or causes, other non-football events, causes or campaigns, or causes or charitable campaigns or campaigns, or any such items approved must be modest in size, comfortable, non-commercial to be used for more than one season; must not be worn by players from other League teams.”
Based on the language of the rule, Al-Shaair could face another penalty for wearing the message during Sunday’s pre-match warm-up, as he was seen on television with the message on his black eye strips.
Because penalties are rarely announced, it is often not known which players have been disciplined. It is also not known which specific players have received permission to display personal messages.
The law has been in place for years. In the 1985 playoffs, Bears quarterback Jim McMahon was there a fine of $5,000 by wearing an Adidas headband. The following week, in the NFC Championship game against the Rams, McMahon wore an armband with the last name of then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle. written on it.
