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I Was An NFL Player Until I Was Fired By Two Cowards And A Bigot
Deadspin ^ | Jan 2, 2014 | Chris Kluwe

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 ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: football; gay; homosexualagenda; minnesota; nfl; pansytrollsonboard; vikings
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To: reagandemocrat
Punters don’t really play football.

They, and placekickers, are the only ones who do. The rest cheat and use their hands and block and stuff. < /s>

21 posted on 01/02/2014 12:33:46 PM PST by Colonel_Flagg (Some people meet their heroes. I raised mine. Go Army.)
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To: reagandemocrat

But they come in handy when the regular players don’t play well.


22 posted on 01/02/2014 12:33:56 PM PST by ken in texas
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To: Sir Napsalot

He’s a California guy so expect to see him running for some political office out there.


23 posted on 01/02/2014 12:35:11 PM PST by nascarnation (I'm hiring Jack Palladino to investigate Baraq's golf scores.)
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To: cherry

see my #23


24 posted on 01/02/2014 12:35:40 PM PST by nascarnation (I'm hiring Jack Palladino to investigate Baraq's golf scores.)
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To: lee martell

“He was warned. Yes, you can speak up about causes, but on a topic as sensitive as this one, why risk your career?”

Corporations are desperate to avoid controversy. If there’s a message, they (legitimately) want to control it so that it reflects well on them. If he wanted to advocate for anything he should have done it quietly, behind the scenes with lobbying or money. But using fame that is only granted because of the company you work for is inherently dangerous to your continued employment. That’s just the facts of life.


25 posted on 01/02/2014 12:40:03 PM PST by Gen.Blather
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To: C19fan
Yep. The NFL team employs the entire package, including things they say and do to embarrass the team.

Ben Rothlesberger survived doing some stupid things such as hosting parties where he reportedly got drunk, crude, and ran about with his schlong sticking out. He survived because he was a great quarterback.

Jeff Reed, the team kicker, got involved in far less embarrassing stunts which proved to be the final straw in getting him released. It wasn't the stunts, it was the fact he'd gone too far south in the capacity of doing his job.

26 posted on 01/02/2014 12:41:15 PM PST by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: C19fan

Apparently, the owner of the team, Zygi Wilf, didn’t go to bat for him.

This kicker was terribly ignorant.


27 posted on 01/02/2014 12:42:58 PM PST by onyx (Please Support Free Republic - Donate Monthly! If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, Let Me know!)
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To: C19fan

No, Chris, you weren’t an NFL player. You were a punter. And truth be told there are a lot of fans of other teams who think the entire Minnesota franchise is gay, anyway.


28 posted on 01/02/2014 12:43:06 PM PST by RichInOC ("ARMAGEDDON!!!" *BOOM!* "And the rodents' red glare...gerbils bursting in air...")
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Comment #29 Removed by Moderator

To: Gen.Blather

You said it all better than I could.


30 posted on 01/02/2014 12:44:17 PM PST by lee martell
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To: driftdiver

I’ve read the average career in the NFL is 3 years.

- - - - - -

Only if you count those initially hired but let go before opening day.

http://nflcommunications.com/2011/04/18/what-is-average-nfl-player%E2%80%99s-career-length-longer-than-you-might-think-commissioner-goodell-says/

According to a recent NFL Management Council analysis of players who entered the NFL between 1993 and 2002, the average career length for a player who is on his club’s opening-day roster as a rookie is 6.0 years.


31 posted on 01/02/2014 12:47:09 PM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: nascarnation

He was a middle-of-the-pack punter in 2012. Some better, some worse.


32 posted on 01/02/2014 12:50:00 PM PST by FAA
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To: C19fan

All of these homosexual bigots and their supporters are self centered, pompous and carry a chip on their shoulder. Anyone who dares disagree with them are to be personally and professionally destroyed. The liberal mantra of tolerance, diversity, compassion and open mindedness are all only for those who agree with them, no conservative or traditionalist is to be accorded those courtesies. Certainly there are other opportunities for this former Viking. Maybe he could advise his buddies that homosexual sex causes fatal diseases, that activities similar to those taking place in SF’s gay parades causes serious injuries to the body and that homosexual men have a life expectancy 20-25 years shorter than straight, monogomos men. Public service announcements along those lines would be most helpful to the male homosexual community, if he can find any media outlet to air those PSAs.


33 posted on 01/02/2014 12:50:11 PM PST by armydawg505
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To: FAA

With the salary cap and the “lowball” rookie salary schedule they introduced in 2011, veteran “utility” players are definitely marginalized.


34 posted on 01/02/2014 12:52:48 PM PST by nascarnation (I'm hiring Jack Palladino to investigate Baraq's golf scores.)
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To: C19fan

The NFL doesn’t have a kluwe.


35 posted on 01/02/2014 12:55:10 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Sometimes you need 7+ more ammo. LOTS MORE.)
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To: C19fan

of course the fact the guy can’t kick for squat couldn’t possibly be the reason…./s


36 posted on 01/02/2014 12:59:24 PM PST by Nifster
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To: C19fan
Chris Kluwe photo: Chris Kluwe scan0191.jpg

A good punter and arguably the best the Vikings ever had but too much of a drama queen for just a kicker.

37 posted on 01/02/2014 1:00:13 PM PST by Snickering Hound
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To: C19fan
On Feb. 11, I received a message saying, "Please fly under radar please," from a phone number I would later learn belonged to Rick Spielman. The text message presumably concerned several things I had tweeted that day regarding Pope Benedict XVI's decision to step down.

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.

38 posted on 01/02/2014 1:01:21 PM PST by VeniVidiVici (Play the 'Knockout Game' with someone owning a 9mm and you get what you deserve)
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To: C19fan
Drama queens gotta do what drama queens gotta do.
39 posted on 01/02/2014 1:04:42 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Who knew that one day professional wrestling would be less fake than professional journalism?)
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To: GeronL
We all saw what happened when Phil Robertson spoke out.

I wonder how Chris Kluwe (who was in the NFL twice as long as Duck Dynasty has been on the air) feels about that?

40 posted on 01/02/2014 1:05:19 PM PST by Alex Murphy ("the defacto Leader of the FR Calvinist Protestant Brigades")
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