NCAA Bows to Falwell, Kneeling OK

LYNCHBURG, Va. — Hit with a lawsuit from Jerry Falwell’s Baptist college, the NCAA said Friday that football players can kneel in prayer on the field after a big play as long as they don’t make a spectacle of themselves.

The dispute involved the NCAA’s newly enforced no-gloating rule, which was designed to stop in-your-face showboating and other unsportsmanlike displays in the end zone. NCAA officials had said that the rule prohibited on-field kneeling and praying.

However, a day after Liberty University, founded by Falwell in 1971, went to court to block the rule, the NCAA issued a “clarification” and said a player can briefly kneel in prayer.

Vince Dooley, chairman of the NCAA Football Rules Committee, said it was never the intent of the NCAA to ban on-field prayer. “However, overt acts which may be associated with prayer, such as kneeling, may not be done in a way that is delayed, excessive or prolonged in an attempt to draw attention to oneself,” Dooley said.