In June, brothers Hamza and Husain Abdullah opted to pause their careers to make a pilgrimage to Mecca during the 2012 NFL season, as part of their Islamic faith.
Tonight’s edition of Rock Center with Brian Williams takes a closer look at their life, and the path that led them away from pro football.
“We’ve been playing football since we were 8 years old,” Husain Abdullah told Mary Carillo, “from Pop Warner to high school, and to college, and into the NFL. And although we’re knocking down all these barriers, doing things that people said you can’t do, all of a sudden, it was like there’s more to life than this. There’s more. And we had to go for it.”
They did. And you can go for it by changing the channel to NBC at the top of the hour. Especially since tonight’s game has quickly assumed the smell of the stuff that hit the Saints’ buses last night.
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I got a lot of respect for those guys.
I would but like most of the U.S., I enjoy watching the Aints get outclassed. Not even a dirty bird fan, although I have a few bucks invested in Matty Ice SPAuthentic rookie auto jerseys. (picked them up cheap sniping eBay auctions with the intent to sell right before the Falcons lose their first playoff game again this year.)
Good for them. Couldn’t imagine turning down an opportunity like that though.
Money isn’t everything. Glad for them.
Much respect where respect is due. These guys know whats important to them and went after it. Good for them. Good role models for the younger generations.
More evidence the NFL is soul less football.
Why not just wait until your careers are over? Leaving a sport, who’s average career is 3 yrs, for a season doesn’t seem too smart.
In a related story, Williams will point out that the equally-devout Tim Tebow is simply an overbearing religious freak.