Houston Texans Player Receives Punishment From NFL After Violent Week 2 Actions

Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair contributed greatly to the Texans’ win over the Chicago Bears and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams in week two. Al-Shaair’s play between the white lines and the whistles wasn’t what most fans took note of Sunday. It was the extracurriculars after the play that brought attention to NFL fans as well as the NFL itself.

The NFL punished Houston Texans LB Azeez Al-Shaair Al-Shaair was subject to an $11,000 fine from the NFL. The veteran linebacker, who is being fined for throwing a punch at Bears running back Roschon Johnson, is not planning to appeal the fine. Al Shaair commented on the incident and the fine in an article from Click2Houston.



“I’m moving on,” Al-Shaair said. “It is what it is.” The incident occurred when Al-Shaair made a play near the sideline and got up surrounded by Bears players.

The play was on the Bears’ new QB Caleb Williams, and some Bears players thought It was an unnecessary hit. The potential unnecessary hit combined with the fact that Al-Shaair was massively outnumbered by Bears players protecting their QB caused him to get immediately swarmed. Al-Shaair responded by punching Johnson, who wasn’t even on the field.

The incident was clear as day on the initial broadcast, but the officials on the field didn’t see it. A thrown punch is the clearest fast path to being ejected from a game on top of a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Fans were livid after they clearly saw the punch, but the Texans weren’t punished for it because no official on the field saw it.

Azeez Al-Shaair throws a punch and doesn’t even get flagged #CHIvsHOU pic.twitter.com/vnxOk2YC2e — Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) September 16, 2024 ‘Not my proudest moment’ #Texans Azeez Al-Shaair said #Bears players in uniform and not in uniform said ‘disrespectful’ things and put their hands on him he said he felt like he had no choice but to defend himself @KPRC2 pic.

twitter.com/3RDKD1LlvF — Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 16, 2024 Changes from the replay center have made their way into the NFL to quickly overturn bad calls that don’t require the whole rigamarole of a formal review. One thing the replay center can’t do is generate a penalty based on replay.

Penalties have to be called on the field and there is nothing that can be done if they are not. This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission..