"At the end of the day, it's bigger than me. 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. You check yourself real quick."
"But I was told that if I wore that in the game, I would be pulled out the game. So I think that was probably the part that I was confused about, because I understood that was a fine, but I ain't never seen Stef get pulled out of a game for having eye tape with writing on it."
After a 30-6 playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair drew attention by wearing eye black reading "Stop the Genocide." He expected a fine and was assessed $11,593. He planned to wear the same message in the divisional-round game but was informed that a second occurrence would bring disproportionately steeper consequences, including potential removal from play. He appeared with the same message before facing the New England Patriots but changed to regular eye black before kickoff after being told he would not be allowed to play if he kept it on. He compared enforcement to other players who use personalized messages and emphasized the humanitarian motivation behind his message, saying the issue was bigger than football and prompting reflection about people suffering worldwide.
Read at Defector
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]