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World News

Christian NFL player wins appeal after being fined $7k for 'Man of God' headband

by Tola Mbakwe

New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis was fined $7,017, the equivalent of £5,736, for wearing the headband during a game late in September.

According to the National Football League's rules, players are banned from "wearing, displaying, or otherwise conveying personal messages" on game day unless they have been approved beforehand.

Davis told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he wasn't aware of the NFL's rule and will now abide by it. 

"Of course you don't want to be fined," Davis said to the newspaper. "Nobody wants to lose money, but I think any time that the conversation about God is brought up, especially in these times, I think it's always a positive or silver lining. If He can get glory from it, I think He can get glory from it whether I personally wear the headband or don't wear the headband." 

Davis told Nola.com that he wasn't sure why the fine was overturned but wasn't going to question it.

On an Instagram post on Tuesday, Davis celebrated the win and announced that he will donate the money he would have had to pay for the fine to St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi.

While awaiting the decision from the NFL, he also raised more than $30,000 selling Man of God, Woman of God and Child of God headbands online for the hospital.

He said in the post: "That means yall helped me turn a $7,000 negative into an almost $40,000 positive benefiting people who truly need it!!! Do y'all see how that worked?? Let's gooooo. That's crazy! Ya'll are a part of this journey too!! I can't thank ya'll enough either. We on a mission over here obstacles are meant to be conquered!! I'm truly blessed as anybody."

The money raised will go toward expanding the A and E at the hospital.

St. Dominic Hospital said that Davis' mother used to work at the hospital while he was in secondary school.

Students at St. Louis King of France Catholic School pictured in the post created their own versions of the headband out of paper to show support to the NFL player.

Davis said the support from the children was "unbelievable and totally unexpected".

"No matter the case, whether I'm wearing a headband, or whether I'm not wearing a headband, whether I'm talking about a headband, I'm not talking about a headband, I'm always using my platform to glorify God," he told Nola.com
 "And that's never going to change. Because I believe he's the one who gave me this platform for that purpose to make his name known. So I'll always be about that."

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