High school football player ejected from game for praising God after scoring touchdown

by Terresa Monroe-Hamilton | November 3, 2015 11:04 am

Sticking you hand up and pointing towards the sky[1] in football almost always means that you are praising God, not committing ‘excessive celebration.’ What a moronic term that is. This is just way over the bounds on being politically correct. I hope the Arizona Interscholastic Association rules in favor of Pedro Banda, who is the high school student from Dysart High School that was ejected over this. Every time he makes a touchdown, he points to the sky in gratitude for his blessings. Ejecting him was ridiculous.

Football Player1[2]

From the Daily Mail:

An Arizona high school football player was ejected from a game last week for unsportsmanlike conduct after praising God following a touchdown.

Pedro Banda, a senior at Dysart High School in El Mirage and also a running back on the school’s football team, was ejected from a game on October 30.

After scoring the touchdown, the 17-year-old said he put his hand to his face mask and then pointed to the sky, looking up ‘for about four seconds’.

But a referee threw a flag, ejected the teen, and now Banda is ineligible to play in the team’s playoff game on November 7 – the first playoff game for the school in 25 years.

‘They thought I was saying I was number one and I was taunting the other team,’ Banda told ABC 15[3].

But the teen said he wasn’t performing an act of excessive celebration. Instead, he was thanking God.

‘Excessive celebration is when you use the ball as a prop or you do something to the other team or put on a show with your teammates,’ he said. ‘I just thank God for all the power he’s given me to play the game.’

Dysart High School Athletic Director Tyrus Timbrooks told ABC[4] that Banda was ejected because the incident was the second offense of the night.

Timbrooks said Banda was flagged by a referee earlier in the game after an aggressive argument with a player from the opposing team.

But after reviewing the tape the following day, Timbrooks said Banda should not have been flagged for the pointing-to-the-sky motion, adding that the praising God motion was something Banda usually did after scoring a touchdown.

The athletic director said he has filed an appeal with the Arizona Interscholastic Association.

In a statement to KTRE[5], the Arizona Interscholastic Association said it was reviewing the incident.

The statement said: ‘We are already reviewing this ejection and associated video, and are awaiting an appeal request from Dysart.

‘Our by-laws allow for an appeal of an ejection that impact a team advancing in the state tournament.

‘Since this victory placed Dysart into the state tournament, the ejection is reviewable by our appeal committee.

‘The unsportsmanlike penalty given to #15 on the touchdown at 4:40 left in the game was his second of the game, which, by rule, is an automatic ejection.

‘That is the reason he was ejected on the call. The call by itself would not warrant an ejection.

‘Both teams had been warned during the game about taunting, and the flag was a reaction to the behaviors that had already been patterned in the game, not for the reasons given in the media.

‘We should reach a decision late Monday – pending the appeal request.’

The appeal has been moved to today and we’ll just see how they rule on this. Pedro should be allowed to play in the playoffs. He shouldn’t be punished for being a Christian. They say he got into it with the other team earlier, but no real details are given on that encounter either. Even Athletic Director Tyrus Timbrooks says the call was wrong and should be overturned. The gesture is common throughout football teams and players. And it is a minor gesture at that. It doesn’t matter whether he was ejected because he was thanking God or because of the call, it has the same effect here and it is just plain wrong. Fail.

Football Player2[6]

Football Player3[7]

Endnotes:
  1. Sticking you hand up and pointing towards the sky: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3301086/High-school-football-player-ejected-game-praising-God-scoring-touchdown.html
  2. [Image]: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Football-Player1.jpg
  3. ABC 15: http://www.abc15.com/news/region-west-valley/el-mirage/el-miraje-football-player-ejected-from-game-says-he-was-praising-god
  4. ABC: http://abcnews.go.com/ABCNews/high-school-football-player-ejected-praising-god-end/story?id=34915698
  5. KTRE: http://www.ktre.com/story/30402095/high-school-football-player-claims-he-was-ejected-for-praising-god-on-field
  6. [Image]: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Football-Player2.jpg
  7. [Image]: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Football-Player3.jpg

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