Last night, Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah, who’s a devout Muslim, picked off Tom Brady and returned it 39 yards for a score to put KC up 41-7, with about 10 minutes remaining in the game. After Abdullah crossed the goal line-for the second touchdown of his career-he slid across the end zone, and lowered his head in a traditional Muslim prayer position. A yellow flag was immediately thrown, and the controversy began.
After the penalty occurred, Abduallah’s agent said, “there’s going to be some problems,” with regards to a possible fine from the NFL for the celebration, which is common following a flag for excessive celebrations.
Well, no need to worry about that. Today, the NFL announced that officials were wrong to penalize Abdullah for his religious celebration last night, because, according to the league, while any player who goes to ground in celebration is subject to a penalty, that doesn’t extend to those who do so for religious reasons. See Tim Tebow.
To his credit, Abdullah said after the game that he thought he was penalized for the slide before the prayer, but the NFL is clearly looking to nip any sort of controversy in the bud, before sh*t even has the possibility of hitting the fan. Gee, does the league have an image problem or something right now?
[via Sports Illustrated]
