October 10-14
The NFL has apologized. The US National Football League (NFL) backpedaled swiftly last week after a referee penalized a Muslim player for kneeling down and giving a prayer of thanks after scoring a touchdown.
The NFL has a written ban on “excessive celebrations” on the field by players, who once engaged in dances and cartwheels after touchdowns and other accomplishment. The NFL found that unseemly. But that ban has always exempted prayers.
The NFL said Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah was mistakenly penalized by a game official when he knelt to pray after scoring a touchdown Monday night September 29.
In the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ lopsided 41-14 victory over the New England Patriots, Abdullah intercepted a pass from Tom Brady and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown. After he entered the end zone, he slid on his knees and bowed forward in prayer, with his head touching the turf.
He was given a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
An NFL spokesman said the next day that Abdullah should not have been penalized. “Officiating mechanic is not to flag player who goes to ground for religious reasons,” Michael Signora, the spokesman, said on Twitter.
Players routinely gesticulate and thank God after scoring touchdowns. Most prominently, Tim Tebow, the former Denver Broncos quarterback, always knelt on one knee after touchdowns. “Tebowing” became a new, if not especially respectful, term adopted by many fans.
After the penalty on Abdullah, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) had asked the NFL to clarify its policies “to prevent the appearance of a double standard.” The NFL lost no time in saying the referee had erred. The referee saw Abdullah slide on his knees in the end zone, but apparently did not see him bow his head to the ground.
After the game, Abdullah did not complain. He said he thought he had been penalized for sliding in the end zone, which is considered “excessive celebrating.” He added that he had bowed his head because he was excited to score a touchdown. As a defensive player, Abdullah only gets a chance to score touchdowns if he pulls in an interception or picks up a fumble. This was only the second touchdown of his six-year NFL career.
The penalty did not have any effect on the outcome of the game, the Patriots’ worst loss in nine years.
In 2008, after wide receiver Terrell Owens was penalized for going into a sprinter’s crouch after scoring a touchdown, Mike Pereira, the NFL’s supervisor of officials at the time, said players had to stay on their feet after scoring except when dropping to their knees to pray because, he said, “I do not want to get struck by lightning.”
Abdullah, 29, was born to Black Muslim parents in Los Angeles. He played for the Minnesota Vikings 2008-11, then took the 2012 season off so that he and his brother could go on the hajj to Mecca. Many thought that might finish his career. But he came back with the Kansas City Chiefs last season and was retained this season.
Abdullah also adheres to the daytime fast during Ramadan, which in his earlier years in the NFL had fallen during the playing season.
In Tehran, the Fars news agency reported the penalty given Abdullah, but did not report that the NFL said the penalty should not have been issued.
