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 In a scathing article which he wrote for the website Deadspin,
Kluwe said he had been repeatedly urged by former Vikings coach
Leslie Frazier and general manager Rick Spielman to "stop speaking
out on this stuff."
Kluwe also said that Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer had
made several anti-gay comments in his presence, while Vikings owner
Zygi Wilf had expressed support for the punter's stance on gay
rights.
"Quite a few people asked me if I thought (my firing) was because of
my recent activism for same-sex marriage rights, and I was very
careful in how I answered the question," Kluwe wrote.
"My answer, verbatim, was always, 'I honestly don't know, because
I'm not in those meetings with the coaches and administrative
people.' However, I'm pretty confident it was.
"It's my belief, based on everything that happened over the course
of 2012, that I was fired by Mike Priefer, a bigot who didn't agree
with the cause I was working for, and two cowards, Leslie Frazier
and Rick Spielman."
Kluwe, who was released by the Vikings last May despite having
established several punt records for the team, was especially
scathing of Priefer. "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," Kluwe, 32, wrote.
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"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..."
The Vikings said in a statement later on Thursday that they were
taking the allegations very seriously and would review the
matter.
"The team has long respected our players' and associates'
individual rights, and, as Chris specifically stated, Vikings
ownership supports and promotes tolerance, including on the
subject of marriage equality," the statement read.
"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.
"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."
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles;
editing by
Frank Pingue)
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