A former Washington state football coach who lost his job for praying on the field after games is making his case before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday.
Joe Kennedy, a former assistant football coach at Bremerton High School in Bremerton, Wash., poses for a photo March 9, 2022, at the school's football field. After losing his coaching job for refusing to stop kneeling in prayer with players and spectators on the field immediately after football games, Kennedy will take his arguments before the U.S.
While Kennedy insists he never cared whether students participated in the prayers and he never asked them to join him, at least one player — anonymously — later reported participating contrary to his own beliefs, for fear of losing playing time. Kennedy, a former Marine whose day job was at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, began coaching football at Bremerton High in 2008. He was new to religion and coaching, and said he was inspired by the movie “Facing the Giants” — about a Christian high school football coach — to give thanks to God “on the battlefield” after each game.
But Kennedy's lawyers then insisted he be allowed to resume his prior practice, describing it as a “personal” prayer protected by the Constitution whether or not students joined him. Kennedy announced he would resume praying at midfield after games, and when he did so at the Oct. 16, 2015, homecoming game, as Bremerton's players were otherwise occupied, spectators rushed to field to join him — as did members of the opposing team.
Kennedy's lawyers point out that he stopped engaging in religious activity with Bremerton students when asked. What he was actually suspended for was not delivering prayers to students, but kneeling and praying quickly by himself, they argue.
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