Joe Kennedy was, in his own words, “a pretty bad kid.” So, when he was given the opportunity to coach football at the high school where he graduated, it felt like an opportunity for “penance … to pay back all the debt,” Kennedy says.
He hoped to help prevent his players from falling into “the same traps that I did,” the coach adds.
But when Kennedy, 53, was forced to choose between his coaching position and his faith, the former Marine says that “was a no-brainer, and I stood up and fought.”
Kennedy’s fight for faith began in 2015, after he had been an assistant coach at Bremerton High School, a public school about 30 miles west of Seattle, for seven years.
From the time he began coaching in 2008, Kennedy recalls, he made a covenant with God that he would take a knee in prayer and thanksgiving at the end of every game.
“I don’t remember anything about the first time I took a knee, because it was not a big deal,” Kennedy told The Daily Signal in an interview for a documentary on his case. “It was just me going out there and taking a knee by myself, and giving thanks for what the players just did, and … being part of it.”
It did not take long before the football coach’s players wanted to know what he was doing at the 50-yard line at the end of each game.
Players asked Kennedy whether they could join him, and soon the post-game prayer became a new tradition for the team. During those moments, Kennedy also would deliver a brief motivational speech to his players.
Taking a knee for prayer sure beats taking a knee, instead of standing with respect, for the National Anthem! Anyone, anywhere, should be able to take a knee for prayer without punishment or ridicule.
Good man – kneel before God only and don’t compromise.