I saw a HS football player who covered his lower back plate with athletic tape and wrote a religious verse on it. As an example, it said something like "John 3:16" or "Quran 1:25". Is this allowed?
There's nothing inherently illegal about writing a religious message on equipment, as long as the equipment is worn legally. Back pads are required to be covered by the jersey (not because of any messaging, but because it's only safe if it's flat to the back -- a back pad that's loose has been known to be at a right angle to the spine when the player hits the ground and cause significant injury).
Eye black cannot have any messaging and must be a single stroke or adhesive strip. By rule, towels cannot have writing on them. A player who writes religious messaging on his towel might be told to remove it, but that's not because the content is religious, it's because the rule stipulates that no written messages are allowed.
I have seen tape with religious messaging and, as long as the tape itself is legal, anything written on it is OK provided it's not profane or derogatory. For years the Case Book had a situation where a player had a t-shirt under his shoulder pads and jersey that had a profane message on it, visible when he lifted his jersey. This was illegal.
There is no prohibition on religious messaging or anything saying it's banned, so long as it does not degrade another faith. The equipment it's on must be legal.
The Rules Book looks at actions differently that passive messaging. Crossing yourself or dropping to a knee are actions and under different rules than wearing something with a written message. That said, there's still nothing saying that a religious display is forbidden, so long as it's not prolonged or used to draw attention to oneself.
