NFL Warned Azeez Al-Shaair: Remove Palestinian Girl’s Name From Eye Black or Don’t Play

Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was reportedly given an ultimatum during the team’s Week 2 game against the Cincinnati Bengals:

Remove the name “Wafaa Akila” from his eye black—or he would not be allowed to continue playing.

The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones reported that an NFL official approached Al-Shaair about the message during the game. NBC Sports subsequently reported the same account, citing Jones’ reporting and a league source. 

Akila was an 8-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza earlier this month. Reuters reported that Akila and her father, Youssef, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Sept. 6. Israeli military officials said the strike targeted a Hamas militant and that the circumstances remained under assessment.

WHAT WE KNOW

Al-Shaair ultimately removed the message. NBC Sports reported that he was not fined for the Week 2 incident. 

THIS WASN’T THE FIRST TIME

The incident followed another confrontation between Al-Shaair and the NFL over his eye black.

During Houston’s Week 1 game against Buffalo, Al-Shaair wrote “Hind Rajab” on his eye black. The NFL subsequently fined him $11,941 for the message. NBA star Kyrie Irving offered to take care of the aforementioned fine.

Rajab was a Palestinian child who was killed in Gaza in 2024.

And this wasn’t even Al-Shaair’s first eye-black dispute with the league.

During the previous postseason, he wore “Stop the Genocide” on his eye black. The NFL fined him $11,593 and subsequently warned him that he would not be permitted to play if he displayed the message during the next playoff game. 

That makes the latest incident part of a continuing dispute over what messages NFL players can display on their equipment.

📋 THE NFL’S SIDE

The league’s position centers on its uniform and equipment rules.

CBS Sports reported that the NFL considers unauthorized personal statements on equipment to be violations of Rule 5, Section 4 of the league’s rulebook. 

That distinction is important.

The reported issue is not simply whether the NFL agrees or disagrees with the message. The league’s stated enforcement mechanism concerns what players are permitted to display on their equipment during games.

At the same time, Al-Shaair’s supporters have questioned how the league applies those restrictions, particularly when players use eye black to recognize people or causes.

👁️ WHY THE EYE BLACK MATTERS

For Al-Shaair, the strips underneath his eyes have become a recurring platform for messages about children killed in Gaza.

In two consecutive weeks, he used them to honor two Palestinian children:

Week 1: Hind Rajab
Week 2: Wafaa Akila

The NFL fined him after the first message and reportedly ordered him to remove the second.

The sequence has turned something normally associated with glare reduction into a much larger conversation about athlete expression, league rules and humanitarian messaging.

⚖️ WHO’S RIGHT?

This is where the conversation gets complicated.

The NFL’s argument:

Players are subject to uniform and equipment rules, and those rules restrict unauthorized personal messages during games.

Al-Shaair’s position:

His eye black is being used to remember children whose deaths he believes deserve recognition.

The larger question:

How should professional sports leagues balance uniform rules with players’ ability to express personal, religious, social or humanitarian messages?

There isn’t necessarily a single answer to that question.

The facts are clear: the NFL has rules governing player equipment, Al-Shaair has repeatedly used his eye black for messages connected to Gaza, and the league has taken disciplinary action against him. 

🗣️ THE SNEAKER SHOP TALK QUESTION

Should NFL players be allowed to use eye black for personal or humanitarian messages if the message doesn’t interfere with the game?

Or should the league enforce a uniform standard that prohibits unauthorized messages regardless of the cause?

That’s the debate.