On Friday, former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe announced he was “done” with football a day after he published an article that accused his former position coach of being a homophobe and indicated that the Vikings cut him from their roster before the season because of his support for gay marriage.
“I had a good eight years,” Kluwe told USA Today. “And it’s time to move on.”
He said the Vikings were probably under “strict legal orders not to talk to me,” and emphasized that “everything I said was true.” He said he did not have recordings of assistant coach Mike Priefer’s homophobic comments, but he said he had “a number” of witnesses.
He chimed in on the Jonathan Martin-Richie Incognito case and said Martin, like himself, was a “victim.”
Kluwe said his coaches told him to “kick it high and kick it short so our coverage teams can cover it,” and that is why he did not have the best punting averages because he was following orders.
He emphasized that, “to me, the primary reason why I got cut is because Mike Priefer did not agree with my social issues, and he did something about it.” He reiterated that he did not want to see Priefer get a head coaching job, which was the motivation for his writing the article.
When asked whether he ruined Priefer’s life because he is now forever “painted as a homophobe,” Kluwe said, “he is a homophobe.”
On Thursday, Kluwe published an article in Deadspin in which he accused Priefer of homophobia and anti-gay comments. Priefer has since issued a statement “vehemently” denying Kluwe’s allegations. On Friday, the Minnesota Vikings announced they would conduct an independent review of Kluwe’s allegations.