If it weren’t for the Joe Kennedys of the coaching world I wouldn’t have become the man I am today, played for the Seahawks, and certainly would not have made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I also applaud coaches like Joe Kennedy.

He is the kind of man who not only cares about his players because that’s what coaches are supposed to do, but because he has seen tough times as a teenager in Bremerton himself. He celebrates and loves his players the way we would hope all coaches do, but far exceeds that standard.

That is why I am troubled that Kennedy is banned from working with those young men because he is exactly the kind of coach I once so desperately needed and these young men need today.

Going further, I am troubled that Kennedy is suspended from duty because he made the decision to pray.

Read the article “Hall-of-Famer Steve Largent: Coaches Like Joe Kennedy are Why I Made It in the NFL” on seattletimes.com.