{"id":26899,"date":"2014-07-19T08:43:29","date_gmt":"2014-07-19T13:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=26899"},"modified":"2014-07-19T10:12:22","modified_gmt":"2014-07-19T15:12:22","slug":"the-moment-the-chris-kluwe-saga-went-surreal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2014\/07\/19\/the-moment-the-chris-kluwe-saga-went-surreal\/","title":{"rendered":"The moment the Chris Kluwe saga went surreal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"For the few of you who care, the Minnesota Vikings released a summary of the full report on Mike Priefer’s homophobic comments yesterday (you can read the PDF here<\/a>). The conclusion is pretty anodyne:<\/p>\n

In sum, our review of RKMC\u2019s investigative materials you provided fails to establish that Kluwe\u2019s activism in support of marriage equality and other equal rights motivated his release from the team in May of 2013. We also did not find sufficient evidence to establish that members of the Vikings organization attempted to discourage Kluwe from engaging in marriage equality or equal rights activism or that the Vikings harbored a homophobic hostile work environment. The record does, however, support the conclusion that the distractions caused by the level, but not the nature, of Kluwe\u2019s activism did create some discomfort in the organization during the 2012 season in which Kluwe\u2019s punting performance was unsatisfactory to the team. The investigation materials support that the Vikings released Kluwe for football performance reasons and not his views on marriage equality. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The report includes comments that are not complimentary to Kluwe himself:<\/p>\n

The record does not support the claim that the Vikings released Kluwe because of his activism on behalf of marriage equality, but instead because of his declining punting performance in 2012 and potentially because of the distraction caused by Kluwe\u2019s activism, as opposed to the substance of such. <\/p>\n

Throughout the independent investigation, interviewees characterized Kluwe in similar ways: someone who is highly intelligent, reads a lot, a prankster or jokester, comfortable with the media and seems to enjoy attention. Walsh stated that Kluwe spent much of his free time in the locker room doing interviews. Walsh also said that Kluwe \u201cloves the attention,\u201d \u201cwas focused on everything but football,\u201d and wanted to be in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

Kluwe\u2019s locker room behavior stood out to some interviewees and included stories about Kluwe dropping his pants in front of 20-25 business people as they were being escorted through the locker room on a tour. Interviewees also recalled Kluwe making fun of the coaches\u2019 speeches on the white board in the locker room and leaving it there even when the press came in. Kluwe also made fun of the Vikings\u2019 then Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Tom Kanavy, an alumnus of \u2012 and former coach at \u2012 Penn State University, concerning the Jerry Sandusky\/Penn State situation. In his interview, Kanavy explained that Kluwe cut the seat out of his pants and then put them on to imitate a victim of the Penn State child-abuse scandal. According to Kanavy, Kluwe said that he was a \u201cPenn State victim\u201d and to \u201cstay away\u201d from him while his buttocks were exposed.<\/p>\n

There is consistent and weighty evidence from the record, mostly from Kluwe himself, that he viewed his performance as a member of the Vikings in an inflated manner. For instance, Kluwe, in at least one article, described himself as a very good punter. In another he stated that his performance in 2012 was consistent with his previous years\u2019 performance with the Vikings. He also stated that he believed he had a good year in 2012. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It should be no surprise to anyone that Kluwe was not satisfied with the results, and set off to rally the troops on Twitter:<\/p>\n

\n

Never let it be said that I didn't try. Apparently the Vikings want to do this the hard way.<\/p>\n

— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) July 18, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n