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The NFL Celebration Policy vs Religious Expression


Osiris

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So who watched the Chiefs destroy the Patriots last night? If you did, then you saw Husain Abdullah's celebration after his pick 6. I was watching it with my friend and explained to him that he was praying, much in the same way a Christian player might kneel and cross his chest were he to score a touchdown. He got a flag for the prayer.

 

So what say you? Do you support the NFL's 'no celebration' policy, or is it an infringement of a player's rights to be penalized for praying, crossing his chest, or "Tebowing"?

 

Story pasted below:

 

 

 

Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah penalized for post-touchdown prayer

By: CHRIS STRAUSS 10 hours ago

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abdullahscreengrab.jpg?w=1000

Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah received a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after punctuating his 39-yard interception return for a touchdown with the following gesture in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s 41-14 win over the New England Patriots.

 

The refs flagged the 29-year-old veteran for dropping to his knees after the play, technically a violation of the league’s celebration rules. But it was rather apparent that Abdullah, a devout Muslim, was practicing the Sajdah, a religious prayer.

As former NFL referee Mike Pereira pointed out last season, going to one’s knees to give praise is exempt from that enforcement.

Abdullah’s agent, CJ LaBoy, reacted to the penalty call on Twitter shortly after.

In a season where the NFL has faced an unprecedented amount of scrutiny for their reaction to social issues, accusations of a double standard when it comes to religious expression will certainly be unwelcome.

The easy comparison to make in this case will be Tim Tebow’s “Tebowing” gesture, which not only was not penalized, but became a highly embraced phenomenon during the 2011 season.

Abdullah has been just as outspoken in his Muslim faith as Tebow has in his Christianity, walking away from the game for the entire 2012 season to take a spiritual pilgrimmage to Mecca with his brother Hamza, a fellow NFL player.

While social media is already full of accusations claiming a more diabolical double standard in penalizing Abdullah for his prayer, it’s equally possible that the referees saw him drop to his knees and threw the flag before recognizing what his intentions were.

The best thing the league could do is put out a definitive statement first thing Tuesday admitting that he shouldn’t have been flagged and that the officials made a mistake.

Update: The NFL did exactly that, as NFL vice president of football communications Michael Signora tweeted the following Tuesday morning.

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"going to one’s knees to give praise is exempt from that enforcement"

 

So there's no NFL v religion conflict here. Just a ref or two that got the rule wrong. NFL might say it shouldn't have been flagged, and refs should receive guidance on that kind of thing.

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"going to one’s knees to give praise is exempt from that enforcement"

 

So there's no NFL v religion conflict here. Just a ref or two that got the rule wrong. NFL might say it shouldn't have been flagged, and refs should receive guidance on that kind of thing.

 

Yep, looks like they came out and said he shouldn't have been flagged. Seems the referees need some training on that front. I think the NFL celebration policy in general is stupid, though. A touchdown is worth celebrating as long as nobody is directly taunted during the celebration.

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Yep, looks like they came out and said he shouldn't have been flagged. Seems the referees need some training on that front. I think the NFL celebration policy in general is stupid, though. A touchdown is worth celebrating as long as nobody is directly taunted during the celebration.

 

Yep, exactly what I was thinking. Probably just some refs that didn't know the rules and that the celebration rules in general are dumb.

 

 

But this would have been a "War on Praying" shitstorm caused by Obamao if it was a Christian player.

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I honestly have no idea why Antonio Brown got flagged for his ball-spinning celebration. I get that you're not allowed to use props, but since when does the ball count? And why, then, does it not affect players spiking the ball, or throwing it in to the crowd, or even people Lambeau Leaping?

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It's pretty much an issue of poor referee training. The celebration rules allow religious expression and I think the ref did not recognize it as religious probably because he hasn't been exposed to it before.

Yup... the rules prohibit going to the ground as part of any celebration, except...

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I believe the player himself said he thought he got it cause of the slide. I didn't see it but if the ref was pulling the flag while the dude was sliding on his knees he may not have had time to realize it was turning into a prayer. Either way the league said it shouldn't have been flagged.

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The whole celebration penalty rule is a pile of horseshit. Unless they are actually taunting the opponent let then celebrate any way they want. Billy Whiteshoes Johnson's Chicken Dance would probably get a flag these days.

Plus 1........I'm not a fan players who do the stupid pre-planned dances and stuff......preferring those who actually act like they've been there before and "expected" to score......but I don't think it's something the league should be penalizing teams for either.....

 

Remember Greg Little dancing, taunting and fist pumping after 3 drops, then a 1 yard gain???....THAT should be a penalty......;)

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The one that gets me is families of people in surgery, for example. "We're just so happy that God decided to save our Timmy" - never mind the centuries of medical research and decades of traning and experience among the doctors and nurses that actually saved him.

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Oh, yeah... but anytime Greg caught a ball it was worth celebrating...

 

White Shoes' dance was idiotic, but original...

Who doesn't get a little nostalgic watching Icky's Geico commercial?

Used to love WSH's "Fun bunch" and their bowling/ bomb variations...

 

But then celebrating became a competition, and suddenly we had Sharpies in socks and cell phones in upright padding.

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Major non-story

 

I grew up reading a fucking newspaper about football.......Browns, Bucks, Reds. Not sure the cyber ghost riders (writers) have nearly the journalistic abilities old beat writers making a daily deadline displayed

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it is a story considering the fact that a huge number of young black males are turning to islam, most while in jail.

 

see the americans going to join ISIS? they ain't no white boys.

 

have your own religion, love your god, i have no problem with that. but the nfl should work like the feds when it comes to this. separation of church and state.

 

the tebowing, the ring of christian fellowship after the game............

 

c'mon man. do your shit at home or somewhere not on national tv where you might upset someone else's apple cart.

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Boxers are always funny with that stuff. "I want to thank God for my success in the ring". Yes, I am sure God guided your hands as you pummeled that other guy for 12 rounds.

 

Muhammad Ali was especially notorious for thanking Allah after fights.

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