Sports

In NFL, prayer is unsportsmanlike. Sometimes

Bob CollinsBob Collins Sep 30, 2014
12

Football and religion are at it again.

In last night’s game, Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah knelt in prayer after picking off a pass from the over-the-hill Tom Brady and scoring a touchdown.

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Abdullah was penalized for “unsportsmanlike” conduct.(Update: League says it was a bad call)

Deadspin today is not impressed, particular since more Christian expressions of thanks go unpenalized:

Going strictly by the rulebook, NFL officials are seemingly justified in flagging Abdullah, as part of the taunting rule states, “players are prohibited from engaging in any celebrations while on the ground.” But in 2008, then-vice president of NFL officiating Mike Pereira explained on the NFL Network that there was a loophole in the rule against players going to the ground: prayer.

“If I get a pick I am going to prostrate before God in the end zone,” Abdullah told The Kansas City Star.

Cris Carter of the Minnesota Vikings kneels down in prayer in Minneapolis, Sept. 25, 1995, after scoring a touchdown in a game against the Miami Dolphins, at the Metrodome. (AP Photo/Tom Olmstead)