Azeez Al-Shaair Incurring Online Wrath For His 'Free Palestine' Cleats Following Ejection

Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair is under a withering online attack from multiple so-called influencers, as the anger that began with his clearly illegal hit on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence has changed to anger about his cleats.

His so-called "Free Palestine" cleats.

Al-Shaair Cleats For Palestinian Children's Fund

Al-Shaair, born in Tampa, FL. but a resident of Saudi Arabia during part of his childhood, unveiled his Palestine cleats weeks ago as part of the NFL's My Cause My Cleats Program. The cleats thus were approved by the NFL and Houston Texans and are meant to recognize the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund.

The sixth-year linebacker was wearing those cleats Sunday when he knocked Lawrence into the NFL concussion protocol and out of the game with a hit that was, well, borderline dirty and attracted a lot of eyes.

It was a hit the Texans themselves disavowed and one for which Al-Shaair was ejected and faces an NFL suspension.

And because the cleats include messaging and slogans in black, green and white – the colors of the Palestinian flag – that are clearly pro-Palestine, there has been a tangible backlash about the whole thing.

Cleats Described As ‘Free Palestine’

Al-Shaair's shoes include the word "Free" on one side and slogans on the other. The Houston Chronicle, in covering the linebacker's choice of cleats, wrote the cleats are "in support of the ‘Free Palestine’ cause amid the ongoing bloodshed in Gaza."

The slogans opposite the "Free" wording on the shoes include statistics about Palestinians since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas following the terror organization's attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The stats: "at least 41,788 Palestinians killed" and "96,794 wounded," as well as the inscription "Surely to Allah we belong and to him we will all return."

"I feel like it's something that's trying to be almost silenced," Al-Shaair told the Chronicle three weeks ago. "On either side, people losing their life is not right. In no way, shape or form am I validating anything that happened, but to consistently say that because of [Oct. 7] innocent people [in Gaza] should now die, it's crazy.

Azeez Al-Shaair Focus Of Scrutiny

"[Other people] try to make a disconnect and dehumanize people over there. And it's, like, they're human beings. Being a Muslim, we see everybody the same; Black, white, Spanish, whatever you are; you can be orange, like, we're all human beings."

That is definitely not how some people are thinking after viewing the shoes. Or the fallout from Al-Shaair's hit on Lawrence.

The linebacker is being labeled a pro-Hamas sympathizer. He's being labeled as anti-Israel.

And he's being accused of drawing a moral equivalency from the Hamas terror attack against Israel to the Israeli state's response against Hamas forces that embed with the civilian population, causing significant collateral damage.

Lawrence, by the way, is in the NFL concussion protocol now. He was seen in the so-called fencing posture after absorbing the hit from Al-Shaair.

aDec 1, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars lays own the ground after being hit by Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (0) in the second quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Ryans: Azeez A Great Leader

Coach Doug Pederson said after the game that Lawrence would be fine. The quarterback left the Jaguars' locker room under his own power but did not speak to reporters.

The hit caused a melee between both teams that spilled into the Jacksonville bench. Azeez was one of two players ejected.

"It's unfortunate with the hit, with Azeez," Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. "You know, it's not what we're coaching. Want to be smart in everything we do and not hurt the team, get a penalty there. Have to be smarter when the quarterback is going down. Unfortunate play. 

"Not representative of who Azeez is. He's a smart player, really great leader for us. We felt his presence not being there. His loss really affected us on the defensive side. Just not what we're coaching. Didn't want to see the melee and all the aftermath. 

"That's not what we're about. Not representative of us. I'll talk to Azeez, address him personally, and we'll move forward from it."