« Football 2018

Azeez Al-Shaair

School
Florida Atlantic University
Position
Lineback
Major
Public Safety Administration

Classroom

Azeez Al-Shaair is studying public safety and will graduate in the spring of 2019. He is planning to join his local fire academy after his football career ends.

Character

Al-Shaair’s inspiring story is well-documented. When he was a 15-year-old high school sophomore, he saved his family from a fire that destroyed his grandparents’ house. In order to survive, he bounced from place to place yet still earned a collegiate scholarship for his ability on the field. Since arriving at FAU, he has turned the program around and succeeded as both a student and a premier student-athlete, and he has become a mentor to his two younger brothers who currently live with him. He is the alpha of the team and holds every tackle record in the program’s history, simply because he watches more film and truly works on his game everyday.

He self-admitted that he struggled with school and did not understand the importance until it was almost too late. He encourages his brothers to not make the same mistake. The football program instituted a midnight study hall after home games for players who had not completed their work. Al-Shaair stops in each time on his way to watch film to make sure each of his teammates who are supposed to be there are there. He will not accept his teammates’ complaints as he says the technology is providing them with something no one else can.

In 2018, Al-Shaair was a recipient of the Wilma Rudolph Student-Athlete Achievement Award.

Community

Al-Shaair has participated in many community service events during his career at FAU. His passion is to give back to the community through volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club, with the homeless population and at his high school. His main goals are to help motivate those in need to stay positive and to show younger kids like him that they can be successful if they commit to it. Al-Shaair has, without a doubt, made a lasting impact on the FAU community.

Competition

In just three years, Al-Shaair is already the program’s all-time leader in total tackles and solo tackles. Last season, he was ranked third in the entire nation with 146 tackles, and coming off that, was voted as Preseason Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year. In 2017, he was named First Team C-USA and to Phil Steele’s Magazine’s First Team All-Conference Team.