A profile of Chris Kluwe: Vikings' Kluwe marches to his own tune

[Are_grits_groceries]

MINNEAPOLIS – The boy who would become the coolest punter in the NFL was brilliant in a way no teacher could comprehend. And so unsure of what to do with the young Chris Kluwe(notes) in the back of the room, who understood everything already, they let him sit by himself and read. This was just as well. By the age of 6, he had devoured the entire "Chronicles of Narnia." By 9, he had skipped grades – twice. And as a teenager when he gave up the violin for sports, his father remembers the instructor weeping for the beautiful music Kluwe would never make again.

His mother, a doctor driven by fabulous degrees and academic accomplishment, saw great things for her oldest son. She imagined a mind humming with all the dazzling thoughts of the truly gifted. She saw awards and achievement and a planet grateful for his brain. She was sure he would want these things too, which is why she now sighs into the phone.

"He could have found a cure for cancer," Sandy Kluwe says, her voice rising then stopping abruptly with the tone of a mother resigned.

"And he's not," she adds.
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Much more: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/vikings-kluwe-marches-own-tune-165900937--nfl.html

Like him even more!

[William769]

1. Chris Kluwe Says 'Cowards, Bigot' Fired Him for Supporting Marriage Equality

In a scathing new article published at Deadspin, Chris Kluwe, the former punter for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, says he's "pretty confident" that he was booted from the team after taking a very public stand in support of marriage equality.

The lengthy article includes an in-depth, first-person account of the behind-the-scenes conversations that took place after Kluwe first gained notoriety, while playing for the Vikings last season, when he wrote a pointed letter (remember the "lustful cockmonster" reference?) to a Maryland state representative who opposed marriage equality. Then he was cut and replaced with fifth-round draft selection Jeff Locke. Minnesota's governor, Mark Dayton, complained publicly, saying, "I just think sports officials ought to be honest about what the heck is going on."

It seems Kluwe agrees with Dayton, publishing the article today with the unapologetic title "I Was an NFL Player Until I Was Fired by Two Cowards and a Bigot." It's quite a revealing essay and definitely burns bridges, and Kluwe sets the record straight from his perspective. He says Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer frequently used homophobic slurs when berating him in the locker room, an aggressive tactic that Kluwe says intensified along with the punter's continued outspoken support for LGBT equality, and he also calls out former coach Leslie Frazier and general manager Rick Spielman. Writes Kluwe:


"It's my belief, based on everything that happened over the course of 2012, that I was fired by Mike Priefer, a bigot who didn't agree with the cause I was working for, and two cowards, Leslie Frazier and Rick Spielman, both of whom knew I was a good punter and would remain a good punter for the foreseeable future, as my numbers over my eight-year career had shown, but who lacked the fortitude to disagree with Mike Priefer on a touchy subject matter."

http://www.advocate.com/sports/2014/01/02/chris-kluwe-says-cowards-bigot-fired-him-supporting-marriage-equality

[elfin]

2. I hope he enters politics in a big and serious way

He is so smart and well versed in so many areas.

Would have to choose his district or state carefully to find one able to support him in these terrible, gerrymandered times.