Azeez Al-Shaair set to appeal NFL punishment in remote hearing today after vicious hit on Trevor Lawrence
Houston Texans star Azeez Al-Shaair is set to plead his case before the NFL on Wednesday, according to a report.
Al-Shaair sparked major controversy in the Texans’ 23-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars after flying into Trevor Lawrence with his elbow first, despite the rival quarterback sliding to give himself up on the play.
The linebacker was hit with a three-game suspension – without pay – from the league Tuesday but will appeal the punishment in a hearing today, Josina Anderson reported.
Al-Shaair was ejected from the game over the incident, which left Jaguars players and coaches seething and sparked a bench-clearing brawl.
He had to be held back by his Texans teammates as the melee ensued while Lawrence, who was eventually carted off the field with a concussion, laid motionless on the turf.
After Lawrence suffered a concussion from the dangerous tackle, the NFL handed down the three-game punishment, also taking into account his role in the mass brawl and some of his previous offenses.
Texans star Azeez Al-Shaair will appeal his suspension with the NFL in a hearing Wednesday
Al-Shaair was ejected from Houston’s win over Jacksonville for this hit on Trevor Lawrence
In a letter to Al-Shaair, NFL chief Jon Runyan told him that the league considered the tackle an ‘unacceptable and a serious violation of the playing rules.’
However, Al-Shaair will look to overturn the suspension in Wednesday’s hearing, which will reportedly take place remotely rather than in-person at the NFL’s headquarters in New York.
Fans hit out at the player after it was revealed that he intended to appeal the punishment – which came one day after he apologized to Lawrence and blasting ‘ racist and Islamophobic’ fans.
Many criticized Al-Shaair, suggesting he was fortunate not to have received a longer suspension.
However, the Texans’ front office already fired back at the league Tuesday when general manager Nick Caserio unleashed a fiery rant.
The Texans GM first argued that their assessment of Al-Shaair’s conduct ‘couldn’t be further from the truth’ and that ‘nobody has a lot of respect for that’.
‘The picture that’s been painted about Azeez, his intentions, who he is as a person… I mean quite frankly, it’s bulls***,’ he fumed. ‘And it’s unfair to the individual, it’s unfair to the organization.
‘Nobody embodies our program more than Azeez; what he’s about, what he’s been through… you all know his story. There’s not a more selfless individual who’s more about the team and earned the respect that represents everything we want this program to be about.
Azeez Al-Shaair has come under fire after it emerged that he is appealing his suspension
‘For the league to make some of the commentary that they made about lack of sportsmanship, lack of coachability, lack of paying attention to the rules… quite frankly it’s embarrassing. They’re talking about a player that’s never been suspended and never been ejected.’
Caserio also accused the NFL of hypocrisy over its stance on player welfare.
‘If the league says they care about the wellbeing of their players, and I would say at a time like this Azeez is probably going through a lot of things, we can’t even provide support on a multitude of levels,’ he continued.
‘So it’s a little bit hypocritical to say, “We want to support the players, but do you know what, the organization can’t have contact with him for four weeks.”
‘Ok, so what do you want [him] to do, just go and float by himself?’
During his final season with the San Francisco 49ers in 2022, the linebacker went for Tom Brady’s throat during a sack attempt.
After Brady released the ball, Al-Shaair wrapped his right hand around the Hall of Fame quarterback’s throat in a moment which quickly went viral.
And during the Texans’ game against the Bears in September, he also punched Chicago’s Roschon Johnson , who wasn’t even in the game at the time of another sideline confrontation.
