NFL refs stupidly penalized Chiefs defensive back Husain Abdullah for dropping to the ground in prayer after he returned an interception for a touchdown. There’s an NFL rule that limits celebrations, including a rule against dropping to the ground (No snow angels in the end zone!), but there’s apparently an exception for prayer.
A common reaction today is to point out that the NFL never penalized Tim Tebow for his end zone prayers, but did penalize Abdullah, a muslim. Liberal econ blogger Matt Zeitlin had a popular tweet to that effect this morning:
True. This is one reason it’s tough to be a minority. Every ref will recognize a Christian prayer and treat him as such. A ref might have a different immediate reaction to a Muslim prayer and mis-react.
But it’s worth reminding folks like Zeitlin that the NCAA — where Tebow had far more success than in the NFL —officials did crack down on Tebow’s expressions of spirituality: the Tim Tebow rule, a reaction to Tebow’s citing Bible verses on his eye black. Also, Tebow’s prayers never got flagged on the field, but they sure earned disdain among the media.
