Furious Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio has dubbed the NFL ‘hypocritical’ for banning Azeez Al-Shaair from having contact with the team during his suspension.
Al-Shaair has been hit with a three-game suspension after his brutal tackle on Trevor Lawrence during Houston’s 23-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, which sparked a bench-clearing brawl between the two teams.
As Lawrence lay motionless on the field with a concussion, the Texans linebacker had to be held back by his teammates during the melee, before he was swiftly ejected from the game.
After announcing his three-game ban, which prevents him from having any contact with his team, the NFL cited Al-Shaair’s past offenses while claiming his ‘lack of sportsmanship and respect for the game of football and all those who play, coach, and enjoy watching it, is troubling and does not reflect the core values of the NFL.’
‘Your continued disregard for NFL playing rules puts the health and safety of both you and your opponents in jeopardy and will not be tolerated,’ Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan concluded in a letter to the player.
However, Caserio has fired back at NFL chiefs in a fiery rant on Tuesday.
Texans GM Nick Caserio has branded the NFL ‘hypocritical’ after banning Azeez Al-Shaair
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’ before accusing the league of hypocrisy.
‘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 fumed to reporters.
‘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?’
Caserio also expressed frustration with the NFL’s lack of consistency after other ejections were punished less severely of late.
Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch was recently ejected for a late hit against the Green Bay Packers only to return the following week, while LA Chargers safety Derwin James received a one-game suspension after an ejection for a similar offense back in September.
‘The level of consistency relative to discipline that’s mandated, it’s gotta match up in some capacity,’ Caserio added. ‘We’re trying to understand it.
‘And again, I speak for the Texans, but I speak for a lot of the other teams in the league as well. Everybody just wants some level of consistency, a level playing field, just so we have some understanding so we can apply the rules in the right way.’
Al-Shaair has been hit with a three-game suspension after this brutal tackle on Trevor Lawrence
He then had to be held back by his teammates as he tried to fight Jacksonville players
But Caserio believes criticism of Al-Shaair’s on-field conduct ‘couldn’t be further from the truth’
Al-Shaair, who also came under fire for wearing a political message on his cleats against the Jaguars, has never been suspended by the NFL prior to his three-game ban for the hit on Lawrence.
And despite apologizing to Lawrence on Monday, the 27-year-old is set to appeal the suspension, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Nevertheless, the late tackle that concussed Lawrence is not the first time Al-Shaair’s on-field conduct has come into question.
During his final season with the San Francisco 49ers in 2022, the linebacker went for Tom Brady’s throat while attempting to sack him.
After Brady released the ball, Al-Shaair wrapped his right hand around the Hall of Fame quarterback’s neck 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.
A number of fans and analysts have taken aim at Al-Shaair after his dangerous tackle on Sunday, with Fox Sports’ Michael Strahan insisting every defensive players ‘knows not to do that’.
Yet amid the criticism of his player, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans also came out in support of Al-Shaair on Monday.
Al-Shaair went for Tom Brady’s throat during a 2022 clash while he was in San Francisco
The linebacker has also come under fire for wearing a pro-Palestine message on his cleats
Ryans said in a press conference on Monday that the Texans are backing their player entirely, stressing that he is a ‘great human being’ who ‘plays the game in the right way’.
‘With the entire Azeez situation, we stand behind Azeez and everything that came from that,’ he told reporters.
‘Unfortunately he hit a quarterback, but it’s two-fold. A lot of quarterbacks in this day and age are trying to take advantage of the rule when they slide late and they try to get an extra yard.
‘When you’re a defender, a lot of onus is on the defender. Whether it’s on the sideline or whether it’s on the quarterback, you don’t know what a guy’s thinking. You don’t know if a guy’s standing up and he’s continuing to run, you don’t know. And then you get a late slide and you hit the guy.
‘It’s unfortunate that Trevor got hurt, and I hope Trevor’s ok, but also if you’re sliding you have to get down, and if you’re getting out of bounds then get out of bounds, because that rule is there to protect the quarterbacks.
‘We want our quarterbacks to be safe in the league. So we just have to be safe and if we’re sliding, make sure we’re keeping our heads down.’
