Chiefs' Husain Abdullah Penalized Following Touchdown Celebration

Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah's fourth-quarter pick-six of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady Monday night was a fairly unassuming play in a 41-14 blowout. What happened afterward has sparked controversy, however. 

Following Abdullah's score to put Kansas City up 41-7, he knelt in prayer, as seen at the 3:35 mark of this NFL.com video:

Abdullah was subsequently penalized for the celebration, according to Chris Daniels of King5.com:

Despite being flagged, Abdullah stood by his actions following the game, per Tod Palmer of The Kansas City Star.

"If I get a pick, I'm going to prostrate before God in the end zone," Abdullah said.

Abdullah also revealed that officials didn't inform him of why he was penalized. Head coach Andy Reid told him that he couldn't slide, though, which is precisely what Abdullah did prior to praying.

Despite that, Reid was supportive of Abdullah after the game, according to Palmer.

"When you go to Mecca, you should be able to slide wherever you want," Reid said. "We've got two priests in here. They'd probably vouch for me."

Former NFL vice president of officiating and current Fox Sports analyst Mike Pereira offered a rule clarification that suggests the officials were in the wrong:

The league later released a statement confirming that Abdullah should not have been penalized, according to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk:

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Abdullah said he thought the penalty might have been for sliding to his knees rather than dropping, but NFL spokesman Michael Signora didn’t split any hairs on Tuesday when announcing that the official erred in throwing the flag.

"Husain Abdullah should not have been penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct following his fourth quarter touchdown," Signora wrote in an email to PFT. "Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1 (d) states 'players are prohibited from engaging in any celebrations or demonstrations while on the ground.' However, the officiating mechanic in this situation is not to flag a player who goes to the ground as part of religious expression, and as a result, there should have been no penalty on the play."

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Among those who lashed out against the decision to flag Abdullah was ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose. He even went so far as to accuse the NFL of "bullying" Abdullah:

Rose also made an interesting comparison between Abdullah and former Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, who made praying, or "Tebowing," one of the world's hottest trends just a couple years ago:

Based on the amount of backlash since the penalty, Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk expects an apology to be issued by the league. 

"Given the tolerance the league has shown for other religious celebrations, there should be no difference, and there should be an apology on the way," Gantt wrote.

The NFL is currently under fire for so many other issues that it can't afford to add another thing to its laundry list of woes. For that reason alone, one can only assume that commissioner Roger Goodell and Co. will work quickly to either admit the mistake or at least explain the celebration rule more clearly.

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