Former Cardinal Hamza Abdullah Will Not Play In The NFL In 2012, Plans To Return In 2013

The Arizona Cardinals have done plenty of work to help fill the secondary this offseason. They signed James Sanders and William Gay. On top of that, they drafted both Jamell Fleming and Justin Bethel, two guys that could have an impact both on defense and special teams.

With all of those spots being filled, it was becoming increasingly unlikely that the Cards planned on re-signing Hamza Abdullah. Abdullah was a mainstay with the Cardinals for the past few seasons, primarily playing on special teams.

But it's a good thing the team decided not to wait and see with him. Hamza won't even be playing in the NFL next season.

Both Hamza and his bother Husain Abdullah will be taking the 2012 season off for religious reasons. It is widely known that they practice the Muslim faith and one of the things that they plan on doing is taking their pilgrimage to Mecca as part of that.

Oddly enough, Husain acutally had a new contract offer from the Vikings and decided to turn it down in favor of taking the pilgrimage. Hamza, on the other hand, was not going to see anymore time with the Cards and he probably wasn't garnering too much interest from other teams around the league.

So good luck to the Abdullah brothers as they embark on their new adventure.

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