National Football League

NFL says Abdullah shouldn't have been penalized for prayer

Published Sep. 30, 2014 9:53 a.m. ET

Mike Garafolo

Late Monday night, after his client had been flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for sliding on his knees and then kneeling in prayer, Husain Abdullah's agent CJ Laboy vowed via Twitter "there is going to be some problems" if the league fines the Kansas City Chiefs safety.

There will be no problems. And the NFL says there shouldn't have been a flag, either.

League spokesman Mike Signora wrote in an email Tuesday morning that Abdullah shouldn't have been penalized for going to the ground -- an act that's permitted if it's part of a "religious expression" -- after his return of an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of Monday's 41-14 victory over the New England Patriots. The clarification is not in the NFL rulebook, which states only "players are prohibited from engaging in any celebrations or demonstrations while on the ground.”

But Signora made it clear those celebrations don't include Abdullah's act, which is referred to as making sujood. Tim Tebow's "Tebowing" was also permissible, apparently, as is the act of going to one's knees and throwing hands to the sky. The Washington Redskins' DeAngelo Hall did exactly that after a fumble return for a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 last season and was neither penalized nor fined.

Abdullah is a devout Muslim and missed the 2012 NFL season because he traveled to Mecca along with his brother, former NFL safety Hamza Abdullah, during the annual Islamic pilgrimage known as the Hajj.

"(Husain) went to Hajj in 2012," Hamza tweeted Monday night, "& in both games at the beginning of Hajj in 2013 and 2014 he got a Pick 6! #Blessed."

Head linesman Derick Bowers, who has worked multiple Super Bowls, threw the flag. Husain told reporters after the rout of the Patriots he believed he was penalized for the slide that preceded his prayer, as did Chiefs coach Andy Reid.

But Reid quipped, "When you go to Mecca, you should have the privilege to slide anywhere you want to slide." Reid, a Mormon, then added. "We have two priests in here -- I think they will vouch for me.”