Joe Kennedy was a Christian showboat who never cared about the athletes. The trailer for a new movie about him tells a very different story.

Jun 15, 2024

Remember Joe Kennedy?

(Follow above article link to view original article with photos/PDFs/video.)

He was the Bremerton High School football coach who insisted his religious rights had been violated when his Washington public school district told him he couldn’t pray at midfield after games. His case went all the way up to the Supreme Court where the ultra-conservative majority gave him a victory.

He’s also the subject of a new movie.

Before you see the trailer, though, it’s important remember a few key details about the coach’s story.

Kennedy’s case was built on a stack of lies and his side lost over and over and over… until the only Court that has the ability to make up its own rules got its hands on it.

Justice Neil Gorsuch (who wrote the majority opinion) said Kennedy was initially fired over his prayers; he was not. Gorsuch said Kennedy’s prayers were quiet and personal; they were not. Gorsuch said Kennedy’s prayers were not coercive; they were.

Gorsuch also said the ruling was necessary so Kennedy could get his coaching job back, but no one knew if Kennedy actually wanted to return to Bremerton. He had, after all, moved to Florida years earlier. Was he seriously going to go back to Washington for a part-time coaching gig when he could easily ride the Christian Persecution circuit and make bank through speaking gigs at churches?

Kennedy insisted he wanted to coach. As soon as the Supreme Court decision came down and the district approved his reinstatement last summer, he returned to the team.

After the first game of the season, Kennedy finally did the thing the Supreme Court said he had every right to do: He walked to midfield for a prayer after the final whistle. Unlike his previous prayer attempts, this one was actually brief and quiet.

But the reaction wasn’t what he expected.

Students didn’t surround him. No one wanted anything to do with the guy. The media covered the story for obvious reasons, but it was almost anti-climactic. It lasted a few seconds and then it was over. People just seemed exhausted with Kennedy and the last thing they wanted to do was feed his ego like everyone else in his Christian circles.

And then, days later, Kennedy resigned.

Of course he resigned. He never cared about the kids, the team, or the job. He only ever cared about himself. His critics were right all along.

His resignation letter was a doozy. Kennedy whined that the district wasn’t obeying the Supreme Court’s decision, basing that belief on “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.”

How was the district diminishing his role? Singling him out? Retaliating? We never found out because Kennedy never explained himself. But a different resignation letter posted on his personal website around the same time included a blurb promoting his forthcoming autobiography.

It was finally time to cash in.

That’s why nothing he did was ever inspirational. As a public high school coach myself, I can tell you from experience that the role is a sacrifice. You don’t get paid much and it takes a lot of time, but you do it because you love the students. You do it because what you get out of it is more valuable than a paycheck.

When Kennedy used his platform to advertise his religion, it was clear the students weren’t his main priority. When Kennedy returned to coaching, that hadn’t changed at all. The fact that Kennedy quit after a single game only confirmed the theory.

His story is one of fictional persecution and Christian selfishness.

Or, as the team behind God’s Not Dead might put it, a Jesus Jackpot. That team is now behind a new film called Average Joe telling Kennedy’s version of the story.

High school football coach Joe Kennedy has always been a fighter. He had no other choice.

Abandoned by his biological mother, Joe spent his childhood fighting through the cold realities of foster care and group-home life. At 18, he finally found a home for his warrior spirit: in the Marine Corps, where he served in the Gulf War. Following a distinguished career in the Corps, he returned home not realizing that his biggest battle was yet to come.

After retiring from the Marines, Joe felt led by God to help coach high school football—where he could pour into a generation of young men the love and guidance he so desperately sought at that age. Retired, happily married, building into kids as a strong role model … it all was finally coming together for Joe. Until he prayed.

Yep, Joe was fired. For praying. Silently. By himself. After the games.

He wasn’t fired. He didn’t pray silently. He didn’t pray by himself. He was still on the clock after the final whistle.

Lie. Lie. Lie. Lie.

Giving the way the trailer rewrites history, you have to wonder if Neil Gorsuch wrote the screenplay.

The trailer goes heavy into Kennedy’s backstory, which may be necessary because it’s not like the present story—the true story—makes him look good.

The trailer also suggests Kennedy chose to appeal his case to the Supreme Court against his wife’s wishes—”You're appealing to the Supreme Court?!” “I can’t stop! Not now!”—even though that was a conservative legal group’s decision, not his, and a predictable one given that the Court is made up of right-wing ideologues just like him. The outcome was never in doubt.

(Also, the Al Pacino-ish line at the end is just plain weird.)

This is how Christian movies work, though. While other movies “based on a true story” might exaggerate, omit, or highlight certain details for dramatic effect, Christian films straight-up lie. They have to. Telling the actual story of what happened to Joe Kennedy would undercut the very narrative these people want to sell to Christian audiences.

The film is scheduled to be in theaters beginning October 10. It’s not clear how many theaters will show it or how long the theatrical run will be. Based on the trailer, though, there’s no reason to think this one will have any staying power.

(Portions of this article were published earlier)