Suspended Texans Linebacker Wears Cleats Featuring Hamas Propaganda

Suspended Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair wore cleats with various pieces of Hamas propaganda on them when he launched into the illegal hit that took out Jacksonville Jaguars star QB Trevor Lawrence.

During Sunday’s game against the Jaguars, the Texans player was wearing shoes with a message proclaiming “Free Palestine,” the Washington Free Beacon reported. The message “FREE” was written on one side of the cleats in the colors of the Palestinian flag. His shoes also contained a quote from the Quran and a message that stated “at least 41,788 Palestinians killed,” a statistic taken directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, the Beacon noted.

The cleats are part of the league’s “My Cause My Cleats” campaign, in which players can raise money for their various causes. In Al-Shaair’s case, the money raised would go to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, according to the Houston Texans website. He began wearing the cleats last year, following the horrific Hamas attack on October 7 that left 1,200 Israelis killed.

The relief fund’s partnerships with Hamas-linked groups has also brought increased scrutiny, according to NGO Monitor.

Following the hit on Sunday, Al-Shaair was ejected from the game — and the quarterback was left lying on the ground with a concussion. The hit resulted in a crazy on-field fight between several players on both teams and the immediate ejection of the Texans player. The league followed up by giving Al-Shaair a three-game suspension.

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The NFL’s vice president of policy and rules administration, Jon Runyan, announced that the league had deemed the hit “unacceptable” and that the Texans player’s “continued disregard” for rules governing player safety “will not be tolerated,” ESPN reported.

“You were involved in a play that the [NFL] considers unacceptable and a serious violation of the playing rules,” Runyan wrote. “Video shows you striking the head/neck area of Jaguars’ quarterback Trevor Lawrence after he clearly goes down in a feet-first slide. … You led with your forearm and helmet and delivered a forceful blow to the head/neck area of your opponent when you had time and space to avoid such contact.”

The Texans player later apologized to Lawrence but hit back at critics, accusing them of racism and Islamophobia.

“To the rest of the people who I’ve been called every single name in the book from reporters with their hands ready for a story to find their villain, to racist and Islamophobic fans and people, you don’t know my heart nor my character which I don’t need to prove to any of you,”  Al-Shaair wrote, while he captioned his message “All Praise to Allah.”