More than two dozen high school athletes were baptized on their school's football field. Now, they're receiving backlash for allegedly violating the separation of church and state.

In a tub filled with water on the 50-yard-line of the Reeltown High School (RHS) football field, a number of students were baptized in May 2019.

The public commitment by 26 RHS football players has brought criticism from a Wisconsin-based group that advocates for the separation of church and state.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) has demanded an investigation into the baptisms, BCNN1 reports.

Michael Altman, a religious studies professor at the University of Alabama, says a strong relationship exists between conservative Protestantism and high school and college-level football.

The professor says the group is "doing its best to call attention to a practice it finds unconstitutional by trying to take a local story national."

FFRF has reportedly sent a letter to RHS, stating that the school violated legal standards regarding the separation of church and state in the course of the student baptisms, AL.com reports. 

The Tallapoosa County Schools Superintendent, Joe Windle, says he has found no wrongdoing in the act, as it was not put on by the school.

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Posted by WC Dawgs Football on Thursday, May 16, 2019

Provided the event was not a required event for the team to attend and it was not sponsored by a school employee, Windle says he approved the event and spoke about it with Matt Johnson, a coach at RHS, prior to the event.

"I was asked if they could do it. I said that I had no problem with it, to be sure they get two pastors to do it and to be sure that they do it and that [Johnson] stay out of it and that’s what we did."

Windle did not attend the baptisms.

Around 35 students were baptized, including 26 football players who requested their baptisms take place on the football field. The remaining students were baptized at their respective churches.