During a football game Monday night, Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah made a 39-yard interception for a touchdown, which led to the team's 41-14 win over the New England Patriots. But it's what Abdullah did after making the touchdown that caught everyone's attention, including the NFL's.
Abdullah received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty after making the following gesture:
According to the inept NFL, Abdullah was in violation of celebration rules. Apparently the NFL doesn't recognize prayer if the player isn't Tebowing for Jesus. Abdullah was performing sadjah, a prayer practiced by those of the Islamic faith (Abdullah is a devout Muslim).
The NFL may have been unfamiliar with what Abdullah was doing, but those on social media were not:
https://twitter.com/HamzaAbdullah21/status/516961518399655938
Neither was Abdullah's agent:
https://twitter.com/CJLaBoy/status/516786507886374912
The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement Tuesday asking the NFL to amend the penalty: "To prevent the appearance of a double standard, we urge league officials to clarify the policy on prayer and recognize that the official made a mistake in this case," CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said.
Abdullah himself was unsure whether he was being fined for the actual prayer or the slide.
"For me, I just got a little too excited," Abdullah said, according to the Kansas City Star. "I think it was for the slide."
Well, unfortunately, that wasn't the case. In typical NFL backpedaling, the organization admitted to its mistake this morning:
https://twitter.com/NFLfootballinfo/status/516942894318383104
As much as the NFL has been scrutinized for its response to domestic violence, the league may want to take a refresher course in different types of prayers besides the ones Tim Tebow is known for.