Posted on 01/02/2014 12:13:32 PM PST by C19fan
Hello. My name is Chris Kluwe, and for eight years I was the punter for the Minnesota Vikings. In May 2013, the Vikings released me from the team. At the time, quite a few people asked me if I thought it was because of my recent activism for same-sex marriage rights, and I was very careful in how I answered the question. My answer, verbatim, was always, "I honestly don't know, because I'm not in those meetings with the coaches and administrative people."
This is a true answer. I honestly don't know if my activism was the reason I got fired.
However, I'm pretty confident it was.
Allow myself to tell you a story about ... myself. The following is a record of what happened to me during my 2012 season with the Minnesota Vikings, written down immediately after the 2013 draft in April, when I realized what was happening, and revised recently only for clarity. I tried to keep things as objective as possible, and anything you see in quotes are words that I directly recall being said to me.
This is a story about how actions have consequences, no matter how just or moral you think your cause happens to be, and it's a story about the price people all too often pay for speaking out.
(Excerpt) Read more at deadspin.com ...
I bet he was putting on his jack-boots and joining the fascists
“Obvious to me he was fired for being a PITA. He felt the need to comment on everthing. It’s no wonder no other team wants him.”
In his head all of this simply becomes “proof” that he is a Good Man.
Chris Kluwe, you aren’t an Aaron Rogers type player. Hell, you aren’t at the same level as Josh Freeman, so STFU.
So far, so good.
However, I'm pretty confident it was.
Uh, no. You just got finished admitting you didn't know, so how can you have any degree of confidence at all that you do know? The bottom line here is that a person of your age and experience demands too much money. The Vikings chose to save money by going with a rookie instead.
As for the Raiders, the reason they cut you is because you are white. They decided to go with a black punter instead to show everyone how diverse they were.
They did the same thing the year before with their kicker, who didn't have a big mouth.
I guess it all boils down to a simple question.
Would you want an advocate for same-sex marriage rights in your backfield?
Based on his veteran salary requirements and his being a distraction to the team, that makes him a marginal player. Finding a new "average" punter is not difficult, and is a very good reason for an average punter to keep a low profile.
This guy is a worthless backstabber. He has no reason to believe anything but the simple explanation: he said controversial things on a number of issues, not just gay marriage and was asked by his boss not to do it. He was warned about it various ways, and clearly has a higher opinion of his abilities than his actual talent would warrant.
In the current homophobia-witch-hunt climate he's trying to hurt his ex-boss's career just as he embarks on a new job search.
This article is nothing more than vindictive payback, supposedly being done in the name of "courage," but in fact being done for no reason than to harm other human beings.
Just another example of how liberals believe free speech is only for them and those who agree with them. Those who disagree are supposed to keep their mouths shut.
At the time, Wilf was trying to extort a billion-dollar stadium out of the taxpayers of Minnesota (he succeeded). He correctly realized that polarizing half his fanbase against his corporate gift drive (we called it 'Wilfare' here) was a bad idea.
Kluwe was kryptonite then. Now he's just a bigmouth.
Amen.
The problem is, that actually would be courageous, so he isn't going to say those things.
“Allow myself to tell you a story about ... myself.”
Textbook case of Pout-Dramatic Stress Syndrome!
I hate when I have a job where one of my co-workers is “this” guy.
Blah, blah, blah! If he was good he would have kept his spot. Look at all the sissy cry-babies that still have their jobs. He would have been picked up by another team if he was worth it.
I don’t watch the Vikings but I know a couple of Vikings fans and they said Kluwe was bad.
In the NFL it is all about performance, if a player or coach can’t get the job done, then they are quickly gone. Especially a punter since kickers are a dime a dozen.
Kluwe is going to play the gay card, or the same sex marriage card or whatever card but the bottom line is that if he was the second coming of Ray Guy, the Vikings would have kept him, IMHO.
In most of the cities where the majority of the votes are the subjects of the second amendment and gun control are more controversial than the gay marriage issue.
Are you telling all of us to keep our mouths shut in support of gun rights if it may harm our careers? If a person has strong feelings about their rights should we all just shut up unless it is in situations that you or those you work for approve of?
No one will make that decision for me. I'm not gay and do not know this guy and have never seen him play. BUT, I spent a lot of years in the military supporting the first and second amendments equally. He spoke up in a responsible manner and not in any way did he say or insinuate that he represented his team in his beliefs.
Would you appreciate being let go if someone above you on the food chain didn't like guns or gun rights and was angry because you spoke out as a private citizen and on your own time in favor of gun rights?
my kind of diversity
The real injustice is that anyone would call this wuss a football player.
There is no such thing as same sex marriage. They can call it what they please, but, it is not a marriage.
If he was a veteran player, it was probably a combination of salary, and where his presence in the lockeroom affected team morale. Good punters are pretty easy to come by.
Homos are spring loaded to the outrageously outraged position. It’s an exercise in projecting their own self loathing. Another frikkin’ drama queen.
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