The Houston Texans linebacker has developed a penchant for dirty play, and it’s time for the NFL to step in, writes Doug Farrar.
Throughout pro football history, there are those players whose predilection for dangerous play outside the rules of the game becomes the primary narrative. Ben Davidson, Conrad Dobler, Johnny Sample, Jack Tatum, Vontaze Burfict... the list goes on and on.
It's time to add the name of Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair to that list.
The most prominent example of Al-Shaair's dirty play was the hit he put on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence with 4:20 left in the first half of Sunday's game. There was no reason for Al-Shaair to target Lawrence's head and shoulder area as he did after Lawrence gave himself up. That hit led to a massive brawl between the two teams, and both Al-Shaair and Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones were subsequently ejected from the game.
Jacksonville tight end Evan Engram, who was the first on the scene to defend his quarterback, was flagged for unnecessary roughness as well, but was allowed to stay in the game.
Lawrence was obviously severely injured.
Al-Shaair will certainly be fined by the league for what happened there, but more should be done. Al-Shaair, in his first season with the Texans after four years with the San Francisco 49ers and one with the Tennessee Titans, has a worrisome recent history.
“It's unfortunate with the hit, with Azeez," Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said post-game. "You know, it's not what we're coaching. Want to be smart in everything we do and not hurt the team, get a penalty there. Have to be smarter when the quarterback is going down. Unfortunate play. Not representative of who Azeez is. He's a smart player, really great leader for us. We felt his presence not being there. His loss really affected us on the defensive side. Just not what we're coaching. Didn't want to see the melee and all the aftermath. That's not what we're about. Not representative of us. I'll talk to Azeez, address him personally, and we'll move forward from it.”
If it's "not representative of who Azeez is," then what about all the other incidents?
After Al-Shaair hit Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams while Williams was heading out of bounds in Week 2, the subsequent arguments had Al-Shaair punching Chicago running back Roschon Johnson on the sideline for no good reason whatsoever.
And then, in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills, Al-Shaair took the opportunity to hit quarterback Josh Allen in a way that certainly seemed to leave Allen concussed, though the team's and league's response to the concussion protocol was about as casual as it generally is.
It's past time for the NFL to do something more serious about this, and the case of Vontaze Burfict should be instructive. Burfict, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2012-18, and for the Oakland Raiders in 2019, was suspended for the first three games of the 2016 season for repeated violations of player safety rules, including a historically brutal hit on Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Antonio Brown in the wild-card round of the 2015 playoffs.
In the 2017 preseason, Burfict put a blindside block on Kansas City Chiefs fullback Anthony Sherman, and he was subsequently suspended for the first five games of the regular season — a suspension that was reduced to three games upon appeal. But Burfict wasn't done yet. In 2019, when he was with the Raiders, he executed a helmet-to-helmet hit on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle in Week 4. This time, he was suspended for the rest of the season. Burfict appealed it, but upon review, the NFL picked up another egregious play from that game — a helmet-to-helmet hit on running back Nyheim Hines — and the suspension was upheld.
That was the last we saw of Burfict in the NFL.
With all the precedents, the league must put Azeez Al-Shaair on a similar track. The hit on Lawrence should be worth at least a three-game suspension, and if there are any additional issues, move along from there.
Football is violent and dangerous enough without a handful of players taking things to a level that doesn't belong. Either Al-Shaair gets that message, or it could have him out of the NFL before he knows it.
