Washington player penalized for pointing to heavens after TD

This was supposedly during a playoff game. If you've ever been at a high school playoff game, there is an extremely strict set of rules that, if broken, can result in fines and penalties for the teams/schools. Everyone is well aware that these rules exist, and do their best not to even come close to breaking any of them.

Within the context of a playoff game, it makes sense that he was flagged. This is only getting publicity because it's religious in nature.

reply to post by PieKeeper


It still makes no sense.

Who said it was religious?

Who knows what is up above us or below us or anywhere? No-one.

Here is an idea - when you achieve something you are proud of , do you throw your hands up or down? Try it.

He was just proud of himself and he had a right to be.

Originally posted by sonjah1
However, in "real" world-wide "football" (soccer in the US), on the international stage, there are much more freedoms for many religious gestures on the pitch/field whether we are talking about Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or even Rastarfarian/Buddist/Taoist/Spiritual...

You are correct there.

Religious celebrations and showings are very common in football ( soccer ).

If you penalised a footballer for blessing himself, then most players from South America would be constantly punished !

Here in the UK, we have one of the fiercest football ( soccer ) rivalries in the world, between the two major clubs in Glasgow:

Rangers, whose fanbase is largely Protestant, Unionist and tend to have Scottish/English ancestry.

Celtic, whose fanbase is largely Catholic, Republican and tend to have Irish ancestry.

It's far too simplistic to put this rivalry purely down to religion, but it is a strong factor in the hatred between the two clubs.


Celtic had a Polish goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, who is unsurprisingly - considering that he's a Pole - a Catholic.

He crosses himself before every game, but ended up getting a police caution for blessing himself in front of Rangers fans.

Footballer is cautioned for blessing himself

I think that the police viewed his gesture as tantamount to incitement, which just goes to show how intolerant some people are, that the police would caution someone for making a harmless gesture, just because some people are apparently incapable of controlling themselves when they see this gesture.

While I respect the players right to believe in what ever religion he wishes, I have to side with the officials on this. The rules of the game state clearly that a player is not to do anything to bring attention to ones self. It is a team sport. The player did not get reprimanded because of his beliefs. The reprimand had nothing to do with religion. He broke a rule. He was reprimanded. Its quite simple.

So this NLF is penalising people for showing human emotion (i.e. jubilation-excitement). But to what commercial end? Is an “ideal” footballer supposed to have the body language of a Soviet general, or Sports robo-ape?
How does this please the crowds, or make money?
One would have thought that if one footballer raises a hand, so do a million lager’s at home (all doing their bit, to government raise revenue & boost the economy!)

If it’s not a commercial decision then it’s an ideological-psychological position. And (self evidently) whoever is making it, will have other ideas, that don’t reflect very well on themselves.