1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Chris Kluwe burning bridges

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Inky_Wretch, Jan 2, 2014.

  1. Giggity

    Giggity Member

    Chris Kluwe burned bridges? That's the headline and the lead, and the first thing we should take from this story? If people just glance through the postings, as they frequently do, that's the takeaway?

    That's not my takeaway. My takeaway is that Kluwe said people should be treated like people and he got fucked out of an exceptionally lucrative job for which he'd worked his whole life.

    Let's look at this a little more closely, if you'll indulge.

    Chris Kluwe, who worked 30-some-odd years to be one of the 15 best people in the whole wide goddamn world at punting a football, said he thought gay people shouldn't be fucked over. For that, he's unemployed.

    Is there a chance it's because flip journalists dismiss it as CHRIS KLUWE BURNING BRIDGES, and team owners know they'll do so?
     
  2. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    We need a tourniquet! STAT!!
     
  3. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    No, it's because he wasn't one of the 15 best punters in the world anymore, arguably not even one of the 30 best, and he was going to cost two to three times as much as the guy(s) who replaced him.

    Just like Brendon Ayanbadejo, he is a victim of NFL teams' vicious habit of wanting younger and cheaper talent.
     
  4. SoCalDude

    SoCalDude Active Member

    Kluwe, Ayanbadejo, O'Bannon. What a bunch of UCLA-educated rabble-rousers.
     
  5. schiezainc

    schiezainc Well-Known Member

    While I applaud Kluwe for standing up for his beliefs, this is a clear case in the business world of a person not being worth the trouble they bring.
    Kluwe, while no doubt a great punter 1.) was/is clearly diminishing skills-wide, 2.) would make more in his position vs. a substitute than the value he brings to said position vs. a substitute (I.E. He makes more than a rookie kicker would make but isn't so much of an improvement over said kicker as to warrant the increase) and 3.) He's a PR nightmare waiting to happen simply because he's a player that speaks his mind and won't follow the same script of shutting up and looking pretty that everyone else in the league follows whenever controversial subjects come up.
    This is just like the Duck Dynasty controversy only, this time, the person with loud opinions in question isn't worth the cost of the headaches to the people paying the bills. If this was Adrian Peterson, Peyton Manning or Calvin Johnson saying these things, the organization in question wouldn't have even blinked and, more likely than not, would have fired the assistant coach if he created a riff with the player.
    That being said, I wish Kluwe luck. The NFL needs more people to speak their mind freely and take full advantage of the pulpit they possess by being in the national spotlight.
    And my guess is that Kluwe is trying to line himself up for some post-NFL book deal or speaking gig.
     
  6. Cousin Jeffrey

    Cousin Jeffrey Active Member

    Mariotti knows exactly where to lay the blame for this mess: Deadspin. http://po.st/6DbprN
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Kluwe is a highly intelligent guy and everything he's saying is probably 100 percent true.

    But... These claims will likely be widely dismissed because Kluwe now has an agenda. If he said this when he was still in the league, people might give these claims the attention they deserve.

    This can change if one of his teammates supports his claims, but I'm guessing none will, even if Kluwe is telling the truth.
     
  8. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Coaches telling players they should keep their beliefs to themselves is nothing new.

    The team I used to cover talked a few players out of supporting political candidates publicly, because they know there will be backlash, no matter what side you're on.

    I've heard Kluwe on several podcasts and it's safe to say he's a very intelligent, very opinionated person and I respect that he's willing to stand up for his beliefs, but when you get most vocal when you're out of the league, it doesn't help your cause.
     
  9. Machine Head

    Machine Head Well-Known Member

    I have no idea what the motivation is for Walsh or any other of the Vikings players who have defended Priefer.

    Priefer may still be under contract, as some other Viking coaches are. Permission to interview one by another team was denied this week. The staff has not been released from their contracts according to published reports:

    http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Vikings-wont-allow-Falcons-to-interview-Jeff-Davidson.html

    Kluwe also said this:

    Contacted after his article was published, Kluwe said he stands by everything he wrote.

    “I have witnesses,” he said. “I prefer not to call any witnesses unless it’s legally needed because those are my friends and teammates and I’d like to keep them out of it.”

    http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/238526221.html

    We're all on the outside looking in on this.
     
  10. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    The reason other players will defend the Vikings coaches would be, under Occam's Razor, that they like and respect them.

    But another reason is that Blair Walsh and others would like to remain employed by the Vikings and other NFL teams, so they would like to broadcast that they are good soldiers.
     
  11. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    From my reading of Kluwe's piece, it sounds like he put this out only because he realized he was never going to play in the NFL again. So he had nothing to lose in a football sense.
     
  12. Machine Head

    Machine Head Well-Known Member

    Bob, I get all that.

    Kluwe was not your typical NFL player.

    Where Viking ownership comes into play and what they do as this moves forward is what is going to be of interest to me.

    Edit: Meant as a response to Bob's response to my previous post.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page