ICC Note: Jeremy Brown, a football coach at Florida’s Mosley High School, is facing the consequences of sharing the Gospel with the students on his team. The Freedom from Religion Foundation sent a letter of complaint to the school district’s superintendent last week, asserting that Brown should be fired or, if not, sanctioned and supervised for his actions. It is not yet clear of the school district plans to respond to the complaints.
By Heather Clark
11/27/2015 United States (Christian News Network) – A prominent professing atheist group is calling for the termination of a Florida football coach for sharing Christ with students on his football team.
The Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) sent a letter on Tuesday to Bay District Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt to complain about Mosley High School football coach Jeremy Brown, who was recently featured in a news report called “Mosley Coach and Students Talk God and the Gridiron.”
“It’s got to be sharing Christ with kids,” Brown told WJHG-TV. “It’s got to be creating an environment where they can be successful. I’m in the business of earning crowns and not rings. If every kid on our football team is saved, then I’ve been successful as a coach.”
Team members also shared during the segment how Brown helps them remember that life is about more than football.
“Well, I never really had a coach tell me about Christ or anything like that,” player Ben Raybon told the outlet. “We pray every day before and after practice so he helped me kind of get closer to Christ and give the glory to Him.”
But FFRF asserts that the Constitution bans public school coaches like Brown from sharing his faith with students.
“School staff, including coaches, may not promote their personal religious views to students, who are a vulnerable, captive audience, with no choice but to listen to Brown’s religious ramblings,” staff attorney Andrew Seidel wrote to Superintendent Husfelt.
He then called for Brown to be fired, “or at the very least” sanctioned and monitored.
