NFL says Husain Abdullah should not have been flagged for praying
By Josh Hill
If you watched the NFL this weekend, you likely saw a lot of flags getting thrown for penalties that really weren’t violations of the rules. The Bears-Packers game contained the worst offenses, but the most offensive of the bad calls came on Monday night.
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Husain Abdullah, who is a devoted Muslim, celebrated an interception return for a touchdown by dropping to his knees in traditional Muslim prayer. Rather than applaud the diversity of religion in it’s league, the NFL flagged Abdullah for his celebration which was the absolute wrong thing to do.
After outrage dominated social media all night, the NFL has finally spoken about the matter — well, part of the league has.
Abdullah should not have been penalized. Officiating mechanic is not to flag player who goes to ground for religious reasons.
— Michael Signora (@NFLfootballinfo) September 30, 2014
The NFL should have never flagged Abdullah and the incident will be yet another black eye on the ignorant face of the NFL. While Tim Tebow was allowed to pray as his celebration and every other player in the league gets to point to the sky in obvious display of religious affection, Abdullah was flagged for his celebratory prayer and simply admitting a wrong won’t fix anything.
Don’t blame the officials either, they’re just the middle men for the league office. The fact that they flagged an openly religious player who took time away from the game to devote himself to his religion goes to show just how heavy handed the league is and how scared officials are of being reprimanded for missing calls.
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