Eight-year-old Wafaa Akila had just finished her first day of school. Her father, Yousef, was driving her to buy notebooks, pens, and school supplies when an airstrike hit their vehicle, killing them both. Her story could have become another painful headline before the world moved on. But thousands of miles away, an NFL player who had never met her made sure Wafaa’s name would be remembered.

Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair walked onto the field against the Cincinnati Bengals, with “Wafaa Akila” written across his eye black. A tribute to the 8-year-old who was killed on September 6, 2026.

This comes just days after he was fined $11,941 for wearing the words “Hind Rajab” on his eye black during Houston’s 36-31 Week 1 loss against the Buffalo Bills. It was to honor the five-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza in 2024. In fact, he has been doing this since the start of the year.

Back in January 2026, the NFL fined Al-Shaair $11,593 for writing “Stop the Genocide” across his eye black during Houston’s wild-card playoff win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The next week in the divisional round vs. the New England Patriots, Azeez Al-Shaair maintained the same look and message in the pre-game warmups.

But he removed it for the game after being warned by the officials that he would be removed from the game if he played with the eye black with the message on it. 

Following Week 1’s stance, Azeez Al-Shaair addressed reporters on why he uses his NFL platform to highlight fallen victims despite the fines he incurs upon himself.

“It’s bigger to me. Is a life worth $11,000? I think it’s priceless… You can’t get so lost in your own problems that you can’t have compassion for other people in the world… I think the biggest thing is me and him (Kyrie Irving) align on the cause, which is humanity. We both care about humanity, regardless of skin color, race, anything like that. That’s what I think more than anything, when it comes to me and him, that we align on, and just not being afraid to do that.

“We don’t have to have all the answers to everything to know that an innocent man, an innocent woman, an innocent child losing her life is not right. I don’t need anybody to gaslight me into saying that, well, you’ve got to ask. I just know that’s not right, whether they’re here in America or somewhere halfway across the world,” Azeez Al-Shaair concluded.

What transpired in Week 1 of the 2026 season has resonated beyond just the NFL, too. NBA superstar Kyrie Irving publicly offered to cover the fine in solidarity with the humanitarian cause. According to Al-Shaair, they both share something deeper than anything in human life: compassion.

“A lot of that stuff is just him supporting me and me supporting him and having each other’s backs,” Al-Shaair said. “I think the biggest thing is me and him align on the cause, which is humanity. We both care about humanity, regardless of skin color, race, anything like that. That’s what I think, more than anything, when it comes to me and him, that we align on, just not being afraid to do that.”

This compassion he has, is something that one can trace back to the hardships he faced to become the person that he is today.

The childhood that Shaped Azeez Al-Shaair

Al-Shaair grew up in a family of nine with his mother, who raised him and his seven siblings. In 2012, the family was struggling financially and taking it one day at a time when they finally decided to move to their grandparents’ home in Tampa, Florida. Until one night changed everything. 

Al-Shaair woke up to the smell of smoke filling the house. They rushed to safety, but watched their entire home go down. From then on began the hardships: the constant moving, one motel to another room. He would take two-hour bus journeys to go to school, to play football, and become the player he is today. 

Everyday life was tough; some days food was scarce, and he ate just once so he could spare more for his mother or brothers. He had to take up the role of a father for his two younger brothers. This is what makes his actions on the NFL field less distant. 

He knows what it means to be a child with little to no control over the circumstances around him. He just wanted the world to hear their stories.