During last night’s “Monday Night Football” game, Hussain Abdullah of the Kansas City Chiefs intercepted a pass thrown by Tom Brady of the New England Patriots. Abdullah ran the interception back and scored a touchdown.
After reaching the end zone, Abdullah went to his knees and did an Islamic prayer. Moments after the short prayer, Abdullah was penalized by refs for “unsportsmanlike conduct.”
It was odd considering that many NFL players have prayed or made prayer-like motions after scoring a touchdown. Tim Tebow became somewhat of a religious gimmick during his NFL days. Tebow would kneel and pray after every great play or touchdown. His signature move soon became known as Tebowing. Tebow’s prayer made him an instant celebrity on and off the field.
But beyond Tebow getting away with praying on the field, it’s not a penalty for NFL players to pray during games. The NFL cracked down on excessive touchdown celebrations in 2013; however, prayer was never implemented as an illegal football act.
Former NFL ref Mike Pereira revealed on Twitter in 2013 that NFL players will not be penalized for giving praise after a touchdown.
At press time, the NFL had not revealed why Abdullah was penalized for his Islamic prayer. A devout Muslim, Abdullah decided not to play in 2012 to take an Islamic trip to Mecca for Hajj.
Check out Twitter reactions below:
I wonder if Husain Abdullah’s penalty for praying after his touchdown will be a part of the list of woes that the @nfl is dealing with now
— Jawad Pullin (@JawadPullin) September 30, 2014
NFL needs to apologize to Husain Abdullah for that penalty — Dawood Saaed (@Dawoodyyy) September 30, 2014
Husain Abdullah gets penalized for praying, but when Tim Tebow did it.. no big deal. The NFL is dumb af with all these rules.
— Kerim Kaltak (@Kaltak03) September 30, 2014
