During last night's embarrassment of a loss for the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs player Husain Abdullah intercepted a pass thrown by Tom Brady and returned it for a touchdown. Abduallah, who is Muslim and took an entire pro season off just so he could visit Mecca, knelt down and prayed in the traditional Muslim manner. He was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. Almost immediately he was a trending topic on Twitter and people started slamming the NFL for allowing players like Tim Tebow to pray in the end zone after a touchdown and allowing players to gather in prayer, but threw a flag when a guy prayed differently than they were used to.
This morning the NFL apologized to Abdullah for the penalty and said it should not have been called. The official line of the NFL is that you are not to be penalized "for going to the ground for religious reasons." This is the right move and the last thing the NFL needs is for more backlash this season. Abdullah really took the high road last night and said he was partly to blame because he was a little excited and might have slid on the ground too long before starting his prayer.
36 comments:
The NFL likes to make news with whatever isn't the real issue, which is ignoring players who abuse their women & children.
Today, it's apologizing to Islam. Tomorrow, it'll be something else unrelated to domestic abuse.
To be clear, they're right to apologize. They wrong to make a big deal out of one thing and ignore another.
*They're wrong..
Drat
Good. They should have apologized!
The camera cut away before I could tell it was a prayer, it just looked like he skidded on his knees in the end zone.
The NFL having solved ALL OTHER PROBLEMS now has time to focus on the pressing issue of TD celebrations. Thank goodness!
Will they treat a Christian player with the same respect? Look how Tim Tebow was relentlessly ridiculed for his beliefs. This Muslim bullshit is getting out of hand.
Wahh Wahh Wahh Wahh Wahh.
Whahh Wahh Wahh Wahh, Wahh Wahh Wahh Wahh Wahh.
Wahh Wahh Wahh Wahh Wahh Wahh Wahh Wahh Wahh.
(That's all I see here. But I'm glad there's people who enjoy it. I know there's football fans here in Cali, but in my family (besides my dad on a occasion) you won't find in front of the TV, or in a movie theater catching the latest, when we could be outside playing. And in So Cal, that's most every day.)
Anyway. PLAY ON!
PS We have gone to see USC vs UCLA several times. And that's a lot if fun. Especially the tail gating, the USC marching band and the Trojan Horse.
Tebow might have been teased (was it for his beliefs, or his rituals?), but was he penalized for unsportsmanlike behaviour? I don't see how prayer (to any god) is "unsportsmanlike"
*facepalm*
Wow the nfl is apologizing for everything these days! See Gloria Allred is now in the mix?
If I remember correctly Tim tebow did his prayers on the sidelines not the field. . Small difference because he wasn't slowing down the game.
Everything @Kno said.
HE should have been penalized and so should any player who holds up a game like that. Those men are there to play football, not to demonstrate whichever idiotic superstition they happen to believe in.
Can we just all agree that on the offchance that there is a god that he/she would not give a damn about a stupid football game? Can't believe we're having this conversation in 2014.
Does this mean a Rastafarian can light up a doobie in the endzone?
Personally, I would remove all religion from sports. It is a waste of air time. Allah and Jesus don't give a shit if you got a touchdown.
God only roots for the Yankees anyway.
You're mistaken Connie. Tim Teabag may have been ridiculed but not by the Organization. He was not only allowed to take a knee anytime he pleased, he was allowed to place chapter and verse references in his eye black.
Seriously, do not procreate.
Tebow was *never* penalized, simmer down.
I'm with Count on this.
Bwahahaha!
Go Hawks!!
Hey, Connie Courtney, don't let Islamophobia get in the way of logic. Tebow never got penalized by a ref for praying, and what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Some of us would prefer that people keep their religious displays out of sports altogether (Matthew 6:6, anyone?), whether they're Christians, Muslims, Jews, or Satanists, but if you're going to let one religion get away with it you have to let them ALL do it without being punished.
The problem is consistency. The NFL doesn't have it, and neither does most of society. People pray differently. There's nothing wrong with that.
Tim Tebow may have been teased by some of the mainstream media for his religious beliefs, but not once was he was penalized for kneeling in prayer.
So why was this form of prayer considered unsportsmanlike?
And you want to remove God from sports--have them play for free. Because last I checked, US money says IN GOD WE TRUST. Does that stop anyone from spending it?
Some of you talk a good game about removing religion from sports. I agree with you. But you don't really mean it. You just don't want to deal with anything you disagree with.
Well, no, I'd prefer that people kept their religion out of sporting events because I'm there for the sporting event, not for church. Plus there's the whole "You know, kids are starving and people are killing each other all over the world -- does this player REALLY think that God, if there is one, gives a shit that he just scored a touchdown?" aspect.
People want God out of mainstream society. And as long as the name shows up on our money, that's not going to happen.
We can call it stupid, idiotic, whatever. It still exists and can't be fully ignored.
I say this as someone who believes in a higher power, but has no particular need for organized religion.
Not sure why you're so obsessed with the money -- I'm an atheist, but I also have to spend money to live. Congress shoehorned "under God" into the Pledge 10 years before I was born; I don't like that, either, but it's a fact of life.
Consistency is the key. Religion, or any other rituals etc that hold up the game should be banned. Pray or whatever before & after the game, but not in the middle of it.
Screw him. Act like you've been there before.
In real football (soccer to you Americans), muslim players pray all the time, but they do it standing up with their hands like the dude next to the Pope here http://estaticos03.elmundo.es/elmundo/imagenes/2006/11/30/1164902418_extras_ladillos_2_0.jpg
And nobody cares because they are not stupid enough to kneel and stop the game for their cult.
I have no problem with this but I'm curious to see if people will mock him the way they mock Tebow. Or if because it's a Muslim prayer they'll be too scared to make fun of it.
Agree with Robert and Count. Do your religion on your own time. Tebags was ridiculed because he is a hypocrite.
It was just a matter of time for another opportunity for the NFL to screw up and take attention away from the last one, that one being particularly more uncomfortable than football causing head injuries and brain damage to players and all the kids who might play it.
"...going to the ground for religious reasons." Yeah, that's what the Pats were doing!
Troll harder, troll!!
You remember incorrectly. That boy prayed everywhere. #tebowing
I'm a big fan of Husain and his brother, Hamza. Go Cougs!
"This Muslim bullshit is getting out of hand."
May the baby Jesus pee in your pool.
You missed my point, sunnyhouse.
But hey, whatever floats your boat.
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