Sports Illustrated Under Fire For Tweet About Praying Football Coach Whose Case Awaits Supreme Court Decision: ‘Total Nonsense’

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Sports Illustrated came under fire on Monday for a tweet about a praying football coach whose case awaits a decision from the Supreme Court.

Joe Kennedy lost his job as head football coach Bremerton High School in Washington state in 2015 over his tradition of praying at the 50-yard line following games.

“SCOTUS will soon rule on the case of a public school football coach who wants to pray on-field after games. @GregBishopSI on Joe Kennedy, the machine backing him and the expected result: a win for Kennedy and an erosion of a bedrock of American democracy,” tweeted Sports Illustrated, with its latest cover.

SCOTUS will soon rule on the case of a public school football coach who wants to pray on-field after games.@GregBishopSI on Joe Kennedy, the machine backing him and the expected result: a win for Kennedy and an erosion of a bedrock of American democracy: https://t.co/H8tEoQauZh pic.twitter.com/XCmjK0qQsO

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 13, 2022

Twitter users called out the magazine for casting Kennedy’s attempt to pray as representing an “erosion” of democracy.

Your reminder that Sports Illustrated is a far-left propaganda outfit that occasionally covers sports

cc: @JakeCrain_ https://t.co/f6M2i3ws9H

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 13, 2022

Some good reporting in this piece, but the framing— tweet, headline, first two sections—is reckless.

With *real* threats to democracy proliferating, reporters/editors have a responsibility to reject hyperbole and treat with nuance cases where people of good faith can disagree. https://t.co/grnbPCjMiJ

— Tim Alberta (@TimAlberta) June 13, 2022

“The expected result is a win for the coach—and the further erosion of the separation between church and state.”

Total nonsense. https://t.co/1Eu4D8zEXa

— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) June 13, 2022

SI coming out swinging against the First Amendment and public prayer as erosion of the “bedrock of democracy” is certainly a choice… https://t.co/sTZxoIhG0U

— Nate Madden (@NateOnTheHill) June 13, 2022

We do not tolerate prayer after games. Now if he wanted to dress up as a girl and twerk his ass in front of a young boy, that would be cause for celebration. https://t.co/qvznaawnXD

— RAMZPAUL (@ramzpaul) June 13, 2022

Sports Illustrated seems to be under the impression that coaches and players praying on the field spells the end of American democracy.

If that were true, American democracy would have been destroyed long before the legendary Jim Thorpe threw his first pigskin. https://t.co/ph1LIg7Ct7

— Rep. Yvette Herrell (@RepHerrell) June 13, 2022

Sports Illustrated is very mad this morning that the government can’t punish people for praying https://t.co/fzGxp2OeGu

— Cabot Phillips (@cabot_phillips) June 13, 2022

I am officially recommending that @GregBishopSI stay in his lane. I will leave at it at that so as to comply with my faith’s demand that I extend charity and grace to others. https://t.co/JcoBGPgKo6

— Isaac Schorr (@isaac_schorr) June 13, 2022

It’s such a shame that the sports industry has been infiltrated by woke morons https://t.co/WU553GcrPr

— Mike Hahn (@mikehahn_) June 13, 2022

“..an erosion of a bedrock of American democracy”. Prayer. 🤡 https://t.co/YsZ2NnhmQx

— Daniel Garza (@danielggarza) June 13, 2022

Bad take.

Better take: https://t.co/yMYtchxMZc

— David French (@DavidAFrench) June 13, 2022

No surprise that no one reads and subscribes to you anymore and that you only publish once a month

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) June 13, 2022

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