Joseph Kennedy, the Bremerton High School assistant football coach who was fired for praying on the field and successfully took his case to the Supreme Court, has resigned after his first game back.
The Washington state school district fired Kennedy in 2015 over his repeated praying at the 50-yard-line after games. He took his case to the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor in 2022, saying that the school wrongly violated his freedom of religious expression.
Consequently, the school was forced to re-hire Kennedy. But Kennedy shockingly resigned after only one game, saying the district did not hew to the Supreme Court ruling and “diminished” his role with the team, despite his team winning and Kennedy returning to midfield to pray after the contest.
“I’m done,” Kennedy told the Seattle Times.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be a picnic and it wasn’t,” he said. According to Kennedy, his “role and responsibilities” during last Friday’s game were “not what I signed up for.”
Kennedy took the school district to task in his resignation letter.
“It is apparent that the reinstatement ordered by the Supreme Court will not be fully followed after a series of actions meant to diminish my role and single me out in what I can only believe is retaliation by the school district,” he said in the written statement.
