NFL player Azeez Al-Shaair has doubled down on the message he wants to highlight and doesn’t mind getting in trouble for.
He wore tape on his face saying ‘Stop the genocide’ for a game despite a fine for doing the same thing days earlier.
Al-Shaair was fined $11,593 (R189 846) for the emblazoned tape, according to ESPN.
It violated the league’s rule against personal messages.
He had worn it for the first time on January 12 (which got him the fine) and repeated the same action on January 18.
When asked about it in a later interview, Al-Shaair reiterated that his sense of humanity motivates him not only to acknowledge what’s happening in Palestine, but also to take action.
“At the end of the day, it’s bigger than me,” began Al-Shaair.
“The things that are going on make people uncomfortable. Imagine how those people feel. I think that’s the biggest thing,” Al-Shaair continued.
“I have no affiliation, no connection to these people, other than the fact that I’m a human being. And if you have a heart as a human being, you can see what’s going on in the world, you check yourself real quick,” said Al-Shaair.
“Even when I’m walking off this field, that’s the type of stuff that goes through my head… I’m sitting here crying about football when there’s people who are dying every day,” concluded Al-Shaair.