NFL Punter: Homophobic 'Bigot' Coach Fired Me

Former Viking Chris Kluwe speaks out
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 2, 2014 4:33 PM CST
NFL Punter: Homophobic 'Bigot' Coach Fired Me
Chris Kluwe, former punter for the Vikings.   (AP Photo/Genevieve Ross)

Chris Kluwe made a name for himself not only as an NFL punter but as a (very) outspoken advocate for gay marriage. Now Kluwe has taken to Deadspin to allege that he got cut from the Minnesota Vikings after eight years by special teams coach Mike Priefer, "a bigot who didn't agree with the cause I was working for," because of his views. He also calls out "two cowards," (recently fired) head coach Leslie Frazier and team GM Rick Spielman for not standing up to Priefer. In the lengthy account, Kluwe recounts his controversial 2012 season and subsequent firing.

"If there's one thing I hope to achieve from sharing this story, it's to make sure that Mike Priefer never holds a coaching position again in the NFL, and ideally never coaches at any level," writes Kluwe, who quotes the coach at one point as suggesting that all gay people be rounded up on an island and nuked. "It's inexcusable that someone would use his status as a teacher and a role model to proselytize on behalf of his own doctrine of intolerance, and I hope he never gets another opportunity to pass his example along to anyone else." The team responded this afternoon by saying it would "thoroughly review this matter," reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune, but it insisted that Kluwe got fired for football performance, not his views on marriage equality. Click to read Kluwe's full post. (More Chris Kluwe stories.)

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