High school football coach could be fired for praying with players

A high school football coach in Washington State is pushing back against school administrators who are demanding that he stop leading post-football game prayers.

At the end of every Bremerton High School football game, coach Joseph Kennedy “walks to the 50-yard line and speaks a brief, personal prayer, thanking God for the game for the players,” according to a statement from the Liberty Institute, the legal organization that Kennedy retained “to represent him in this matter.”

Kennedy, who is head coach of junior varsity football and assistant coach of varsity football, began the post-game prayers in 2008 when he was first hired by the school district, said the Liberty Institute. After a few games into the 2008 season, some students asked what he was doing, the legal organization added.

“I was thanking God for you guys,” Kennedy replied, according to the Liberty Institute. “Then a couple said they were Christians and asked if they could join. I responded, ‘It’s a free country, you can do whatever you want to do.'”

For the complete story and video, click here.