High school football coach Joseph Kennedy is celebrating his Supreme Court victory.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled Kennedy had a right to pray after games on the field.
Kennedy previously claimed the Bremerton School District violated his religious freedom by saying he could not pray in public after the games.
During an interview with The Daily Mail, Kennedy said, “I don’t even know how to put it into words.”
He added, “They should give me a day off to think about it and process it all.”
Kennedy told the outlet it is “just incredible to know that I did nothing wrong. Everything I did was fine.”
He continued, “And that the First Amendment is fine and well for everyone.”
The football coach explained he had “a commitment with God that I’d give him thanks after every football game, win or lose,” adding, “And that’s the way I started out.”
According to Kennedy, he had “some kids that wanted to join, and they asked, and of course it’s a free country.”
He went on, “They can do whatever they want. And that went on fine for eight years. Then someone made a complaint, and they started an investigation.”
Kennedy noted “the lawyers got involved from the school district and they wanted to completely remove all religious aspects from the public schools. So they fired me, and I’ve just been fighting ever since to get back.”
Later in the interview, Kennedy suggested “every American should have been totally 100 percent on my side. From just my perspective.”
Arguing the issue is about the First Amendment, Kennedy continued, “It has nothing to do with infringing on anybody else’s. This is somebody exercising the freedom that is in our country. And that’s how I look at it.”
Commenting on his career, Kennedy said he hopes to return to his role at Bremerton High School.
“That’s all I asked for, from the beginning. The only thing I asked for was to be a coach, and thank God after. So I’m waiting for the school district and my lawyers to figure that out,” Kennedy said.
Several took to Twitter to celebrate the win:
Congratulations to Coach Joe Kennedy—this is a win for the free exercise of religion and free speech, so it’s a win for all Americans! Today #SCOTUS underscored that expressions of our religious beliefs should not be singled out or suppressed by the gov't. https://t.co/Cx1NZbPF2b
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) June 28, 2022
A HUGE victory at the Supreme Court for religious freedom & Coach Kennedy, who merely knelt in silent prayer on the 50 yard line after a football game!@1stLiberty has been fighting this case for years & today they have a hard-earned victory for all people of faith!
— Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) June 27, 2022
YES! The Supreme Court handed a big win to a former Washington high school football coach who lost his job over reciting a prayer on the 50-yard line after games.
— Kambree (@KamVTV) June 27, 2022
The Supreme Court confirmed what is common sense.
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) June 27, 2022
A school can't stop a football coach from having a private, post-game prayer.
Today is a victory for the First Amendment and religious freedom!
In less than a week, the Supreme Court has protected the 2nd Amendment, allowed the states to protect unborn life, and made it clear that public prayer at high school sporting events is perfectly acceptable. The tide is turning!
— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) June 27, 2022
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion both “the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment protect expressions like Mr. Kennedy’s.”
The opinion continued, “Nor does a proper understanding of the Amendment’s Establishment Clause require the government to single out private religious speech for special disfavor. The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.”
