Update: Vikings special teams coach denies Kluwe’s claims; Minnesota legislator calls for investigation. “All we can do is try to expose their behavior when we see it and call them to account for their actions,” Chris Kluwe says in a post on Deadspin .
Chris Kluwe.
Jim Gehrz / Minneapolis Star Tribune / MCT
Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe has accused the Minnesota Vikings of releasing him in May because of his advocacy for LGBT rights, and accused at least one assistant coach of making a number of bigoted comments.
In a post published on Deadspin today, Kluwe wrote, "I honestly don't know if my activism was the reason I got fired. However, I'm pretty confident it was."
Kluwe details a damning chain of events that led to his eventual release, starting in the summer of 2012 when he was approached for assistance by a Minnesota-based group called Minnesotans for Marriage Equality. He said a day after Deadspin published a letter he'd written to Maryland delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. "chastising him for trampling the free-speech rights of Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo," then-Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier called him in for a meeting to discourage him from speaking out about his support for same-sex marriage rights.
Kluwe also said Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer started using homophobic language in his presence and singled him out for verbal abuse despite little change in his on-field performance. Kluwe alleges Priefer, in a meeting with players, said, "We should round up all the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows."
In a press release this afternoon, the Vikings vigorously denied Kluwe was cut because of his work with LGBT rights groups.
"Because he was identified with the Vikings, Chris was asked to be respectful while expressing his opinions. Team ownership and management also repeatedly emphasized to Chris that the Vikings would not impinge on his right to express his views," the Vikings said in the release. "Any notion that Chris was released from our football team due to his stance on marriage equality is entirely inaccurate and inconsistent with team policy. Chris was released strictly based on his football performance."
Frazier, who was fired by the Vikings last week after going 20-31 in little more than three seasons as head coach, wasn't immediately available for comment.
Former Baltimore linebacker and special teams star Brendon Ayabadejo, who is also a prominent advocate for LGBT rights, quickly rallied to Kluwe's defense on Twitter:
