On Wednesday, Sept. 6, Coach Joe Kennedy — who won his Supreme Court battle last year after long fighting for his rights to take a knee on the football field and say a prayer after high school football games in Bremerton, Washington — announced that he is resigning from his assistant coaching position.
His resignation is effective immediately and Kennedy, who moved to Florida with his wife, Denise, not long ago, will be devoting himself to the care of an ailing family member, according to a release that was shared with Fox News Digital. He cited that as one of the reasons for his decision.
Just a few days ago, Coach Kennedy told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview that there might be some new things in store for him in the near future, now that he's fought the "good fight" over the past eight years and seen his story through.
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"Is the ministry something that's on your mind, potentially, at some point for you?" Fox News Digital asked Kennedy.
"Yes, it is. It's been weighing on our hearts quite a bit," he replied, referencing himself and his wife.
"We have traveled around the United States. We speak at different events," he said.
"And it seems like people are really hungry to rally behind something," said Kennedy.
"People need just a little inspiration. And millions of Americans stood up alongside me [during his legal battle against the Bremerton School District to reclaim his coaching job]. We weren't alone in this fight from the very beginning."
He also told Fox News Digital that a family member had not been doing well and that this concerned him and was drawing his increasing focus.
"I believe I can best continue to advocate for constitutional freedom and religious liberty by working from outside the school system, so that is what i will do," he said, in part, on Wednesday in the release about his news.
"I will continue to work to help people understand and embrace the historic ruling at the heart of our case," he also said.
"As I have demonstrated, we must make a stand for what we believe," he said as well.
Coach Kennedy's new book, "Average Joe," will be out in October of this year from Salem Books.
"Bremerton will always be home," Kennedy also said in his statement on Wednesday.
In 2015, Kennedy lost his job with the Bremerton School District as an assistant high school football coach.
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He was fired because of his practice of saying a silent prayer on the 50-yard line after games — which turned into a professional, cultural, legal and constitutional battle played out in front of the American public and in the highest court in the land.
On June 27, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Coach Kennedy and his First Amendment right — and on March 8, 2023, Kennedy was officially reinstated as assistant coach at Bremerton High School.
True to his promise ahead of his first game back on Friday, Sept. 1, he again took a knee — doing so by himself on his first day back — and gave thanks to God during the game on Sept. 1 for being back on the field and having the constitutional right to practice his faith.
He said he had been working for — and waiting for — eight years for that moment.
Now, beyond the gridiron, he's praying about his next "career" play, he also told Fox News Digital recently.
"There's just something about going out there and being the light. And I think it's a great way of putting it — being the light out in the world like we're supposed to be."
