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Michael Gallagher

By Michael Gallagher

Sports Content Coordinator

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Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair is no stranger to hearing from the NFL league office.

The Pro Bowl defender has been fined several times by the league over the years, and he’s already incurred his first fine of the 2026 season, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2.

During Sunday’s 36-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 1 — a game in which he led the team with eight tackles and a tackle for loss — Al-Shaair wore a message on his eye black that caught the attention of the NFL.

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“#Texans Pro Bowl middle linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair fined $11,492 for unauthorized message on eye black Sunday vs. #Bills,” Wilson wrote on X.

Al-Shaair wore eye black with the name “Hind Rajab” written on it — a show of support for the 5-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed along with her family in January 2024 by the Israeli military.

It marks the second time in the last nine months that Al-Shaair was fined for a message on his eye black. He was hit with an $11,593 fine for the “Stop the Genocide” eye black message he displayed in a Jan. 12 playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Houston Texans LB Azeez al-Shaair

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“At the end of the day, it’s bigger than me,” Al-Shaair said at the time. “The things that are going on make 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 and you’re a human being you can see what’s going on in the world and you check yourself real quick. Even 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 single day.”

Al-Shaair has now been fined 12 times in his seven-plus year NFL career:

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