When coach Joe Kennedy knelt to pray at the 50-yard line after a high school football game, he had no idea of the seismic legal transformation he was triggering. A new film explores his backstory and the Supreme Court decision his actions prompted. He’s an unlikely protagonist for such a momentous development.
The movie Average Joe draws from Kennedy’s book of the same name. Kennedy has a rough background. His mother gave him up for adoption at birth, and his youth included numerous foster homes and group homes. Young Kennedy, frequently fighting, was expelled from six schools, once for putting a laxative in his teacher’s coffee. Filled with anger toward his parents, God, and life, he joined the Marine Corps seeking personal direction. Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait brought danger, rigor, and adaptation.
