During Monday night’s game, the Kansas City safety, who is Muslim, was penalized for “unsportsmanlike behavior” when he prayed to celebrate his touchdown. An NFL spokesman said Tuesday that he should not have been penalized.

Abdullah kneeled and touched his forehead to the ground in Muslim prayer after scoring the second touchdown of his career.

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According to SBNation, the referee flagged him for "unsportsmanlike conduct, going to the ground." According to the NFL rulebook, players are prohibited from engaging in prolonged or excessive celebrations while on the ground.

In this interview, Pereira said:

"The whole issue is, you can't go to the ground on your knees or with your hand or anything. There's only one time that you're going to be allowed to go on your knee after you score like this, and that's when you want to praise the Lord. If you do that, then I'm going to allow that, because I do not want to be struck by lightning, I promise you that. We will allow that."

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