Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair drew an NFL fine after using his eye black to honor a Palestinian child killed in 2024, Yahoo reports. NBA star Kyrie Irving says he will handle the bill.
Irving reposted news of the penalty on X and added, “I’ll take care of his fine.” The six-word response connected two prominent athletes around Al-Shaair’s tribute to Hind Rajab, a 5-year-old Palestinian girl.
The NFL issued Al-Shaair an $11,492 penalty Tuesday, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2. He joined three other Texans who received fines for separate infractions following Buffalo’s 36-31 victory over Houston on Sunday. Al-Shaair displayed “Hind Rajab” across the black strips beneath his eyes.
NFL Fine Came Under Equipment Rules
Although Al-Shaair’s tribute attracted attention, the league punished an equipment violation rather than the pro-Palestinian meaning of his message. NFL rules prohibit players from adding unapproved words to eye black, regardless of what the wording says.
Other players also received equipment-related penalties following Week 1. The league fined David Montgomery over a logo that lacked authorization on his cleats, while Trent Brown drew a penalty because his socks failed to cover his lower legs.
Rajab traveled through northern Gaza with six relatives in January 2024 when Israeli fire struck their vehicle, according to CNN. She survived the initial shooting and spent hours asking Palestinian paramedics by phone to rescue her. Gunfire also struck the ambulance that responders sent for her. Twelve days later, searchers found Rajab inside the bullet-riddled vehicle.
CNN reported last month that the Israel Defense Forces acknowledged its troops fired toward the vehicle and said it had started a criminal investigation. Before that admission, the IDF rejected any role and maintained that its personnel had not operated close enough to shoot at it.
The IDF said its examination showed that troops shot toward a vehicle approaching their position. The military opened criminal reviews into two prominent incidents but declined to investigate three other attacks from the war’s opening months that killed aid workers.
Rajab’s mother, Wesam Hamada, called the investigation a “long-overdue step” but requested an independent and transparent inquiry with accountability. Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour also questioned whether Israel’s investigation would prove independent or credible.
Azeez Al-Shaair Previously Accepted Similar Fine
This does not mark Al-Shaair’s first punishment for a message on his eye black. The NFL fined him last season after he wore “stop the genocide” during Houston’s wild-card victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Al-Shaair said afterward that he expected the league to penalize him and accepted that consequence.
“At the end of the day, it’s bigger than me, the things that are going on,” Al-Shaair said. “It makes people uncomfortable, imagine how those people feel.”
“I have no affiliation, no connection to these people other than the fact that I’m a human being,” he continued. “If you have a heart, then you are a human being and you can see what’s going on in the world.”
He also said the suffering placed his football frustrations into perspective. This time, Al-Shaair used Rajab’s name instead of a broader phrase. Irving then amplified the gesture beyond the NFL by publicly volunteering to cover the entire $11,492 penalty.
Kyrie Irving Takes Action After NFL Fines Azeez Al-Shaair