Team pregame prayer sacked

6/13/2015

Group claims violation of U.S. Constitution
TOLEDO, Oh – University of Toledo head football coach Matt Campbell will be back at the helm this year, once again attempting to take the Rockets to a Mid-American Conference football title. It appears, however, he will not be leading the team in any pre-game prayers.

Armed with a video clip from a Rockets game in 2012, the Freedom from Religion Foundation (a Wisconsin-based nonprofit) complained last month that Campbell led the team in the Lord’s Prayer before that 2012 game. Such action, it said, violated the U.S. Constitution (separation of church and state).

Campbell issued a statement this week indicating future mental preparations will take a more individual direction.

Now entering his fifth year at the Rockets helm, Campbell said, “I won’t change my values or who I am.” He noted, however, Toledo football “is a great unifying force for the University of Toledo and the entire community. … To ensure UT football continues to bring people together, players will determine on their own any personal preparation methods to help them mentally prepare to play the game we love.”

Publisher

Mike Smith saw his first MAC football action as a nine-year-old while hanging onto the flagpole of a nearby baseball stadium. The view got better after he discovered he could get in free at halftime.
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