Farewell Kluwe

[HornedMessiah]

It would be interesting to know if any other teams were eying Locke. Obviously none of them had him as highly rated as the Vikings, but if this kid is as good as advertised then maybe he was going to get picked at some point anyway. If he turns out to be some kind of punting genius then we have the K and P spots locked down with pro-bowlers for many years.

I'm not gonna get worked up over them spending a 5th on a punter. It's not that bad if the kid ends up being the real deal. A 5th spent on any other position (except probably linemen or kickers) usually results in a subpar backup/ST guy or doesn't make the team at all. I still can't imagine that the team was in BPA mode at the point in the draft.......could they have been?

[Hunter Morrow]

I don't know why we took Locke. Kluwe is fine.

[PurpleJarl]

I keep hearing things like this from many posters about him retiring if being cut by the Vikings since he has "all these other things going" and he's so "cool". I notice this happens some times with sports fans that they fall into this fantasy world where their favorite athletes don't care about money and only play for love and passion for their sports, or worse yet, an undying loyalty to their team or the fans of that team.

As cool as Kluwe is, and as a punter he is legitimately the coolest, but there is no way he walks away from the NFL if he is cut. Unless Prince signs up his garage band and insists he stay in Minnesota to be closer to Paisley Park, then the minute he gets the release he's on the phone with every team in the NFL. The average punter makes almost $900k a year, and Kluwe is on the high end of punter salary, and while he likely won't get top 10 money any more, he'll likely fetch at least $500-$1m. Are you guys trying to tell me he's going to walk away from that to fight gay rights 24 hours a day, or open up a tattoo shop, or surf, or whatever it is that people who don't care do?

There are only two guys to walk away from the NFL while still physically strong on principal alone, and that's Pat Tillman and Ricky Williams. The only time players walk away is when no one wants them. Donald Driver didn't retire because he bleeds green and gold, he retired because 32 teams in the NFL didn't want him. Emmitt Smith and Brett Favre were both ready to retire but two teams offered them obscene amounts of money to play one more year which they did and neither one regrets it.

While sports fans like to believe athletes don't care about money (only the greedy ones do right?), they've devoted their entire lives from a young age to athletics, and if you have a marketable skill that nets you a half million or more, you don't walk away. Only an idiot would, and if there's one thing we can divulge from Kluwe's outspoken-ness, its that he is not an idiot. At this point he has millions in the bank, but he's only 31, while sports fans like to envision athletes riding off into the sunset, these people have lives to live and Kluwe knows he's not going to make $5 million or so last for the next 50 years. Do you think his garage band is going to net him $900,000 a year? Even if he became chairman of the company that fights for gay rights, he will never make more money than he can as an NFL player. In 10 years time, when he's completely broke trying to fund his hobbies, are you going to let him live in your garage because you thought it was so awesome that he walked away from the NFL? Didn't think so.

Kluwe will do what all athletes will do, keep trying to play to earn as much money as possible until he just can't bring it anymore and no one wants him anymore. And when he says he wants to retire a Viking its PR. It's step one in the handbook of what you do and say when you are in a contract dispute with your employer. Of course you say you want to retire with your team, and in most cases its sincere. Most athletes are settled into their areas and their families enjoy their homes. But no one is going to retire out of pure love for that city rather than pass up NFL money somewhere else (despite what sports fans think in their minds of fantasy), and that includes Chris Kluwe. While I do think Kluwe has lost a bit the past season or two, he's still a good punter, and I'm sure he'll find work somewhere, since there are always teams that seem to have a garbage punter that drags the team down. Even if its not this offseason, I'm sure Kluwe will get picked up by somebody.

I think the general idea people are trying to get across is that, it wouldn't suprise us if he used his NFL career as a tool to launch himself into another field rather than stay in football. While I'll give you its rare to see atheletes walk away from the game rather than be forced out by age, it does happen. And for those that do, its typcially the ones with diverse interests and higher than average intelligences that move on early. I personally don't think that Kluwe is altrustic at all, just that since he does make so little, it might not be that hard for him to walk away, leverage his fame into another career, and do something he LOVES while still making 400k a year or something.

[jeg067]

... There are only two guys to walk away from the NFL while still physically strong on principal alone, and that's Pat Tillman and Ricky Williams....

Robert Smith ?

[PurpleJarl]

Robert Smith ?

Strahan could have played a couple more years too correct? Same with Elway?


And lets face it, Farve left pretty early on

[Mothman]

Robert Smith ?

He's an excellent example of someone who walked away from the game early. It happens and we may see it happen more, not less, as player salaries rise and the post-career risks and pain become increasingly clear. Kluwe probably won't walk away from the game if the Vikes cut him but he could likely afford to do so and as a smart man with a degree from UCLA, it's not as if he wouldn't have earning potential. Heck, he could probably make good money on the lecture circuit or in sports media.

[mondry]

Barry Sanders

[PurpleMustReign]

Barry Sanders

That's the best example ever, IMO.

[PurpleJarl]

That's the best example ever, IMO.

Wasn't Barry pseudo forced out though? I thought he was going to pull a Farve and come back with another team but a contract clause kept him from doing so.

[dead_poet]

Do you really want your punter, or any of your players, posing in a gay magazine for any reason

Kluwe is hardly the first NFL player to pose for a magazine.

http://www.krazemag.com/images/stories/ ... erson2.jpg

Within reason ("Pedophile Quarterly" or whatever), should it really matter what that magazine is for?

I truly believe in the grand scheme of things, Kluwe's story was more of a footnote last season. He generated stories and did interviews. Hardly unprecedented activity for an NFL player. And, when you think about it, he probably has the least amount of film study and preparation of any player. Essentially, I doubt a shanked punt was caused by his activism. He never missed a practice from what I understood and played with a minor injury. He did his job, and did it fairly well.

Statistically speaking he's been the best punter in franchise history and generally top-15 (or top-10) at what he does. If he got on Priefer's nerves, that is certainly understandable. If Priefer had a conversation and told him to tone it down, I, personally, wouldn't agree with a sentiment that's discouraging a person's first amendment rights. On the other hand, I'd understand if such a conversation took place and Kluwe ignored it, how that'd be a sign of disobedience and cause Priefer to explore other options.

My bottom line is this: it needs to be purely a football decision to cut/replace a player (provided there isn't a Randy Moss/Terrell Owens obvious locker room issue, which there's no indication it was and I'd highly doubt Kluwe's stance on gay rights issues would be cause for locker room schisms). I haven't seen an obvious decline in his performance and still think he's one of the better punters in the league. However, I also understand that if there's a very talented person out there, you make a switch (see: Adrian Peterson when you have Chester Taylor). Without more of the facts we really have no idea if Kluwe's activism had anything to do with this move. It could simply be the Adrian Peterson version of a punter and rough luck for Kluwe that he's going to be replaced with an obvious upgrade. If it does have to do with his activism, I have more of a problem.

[PurpleJarl]

I would love for locke to just be a inside the 5, 60 net yard, punting machine.

[Purple bruise]

I would strongly argue that Greg Coleman was far and away the best punter that ever played for the Vikings and probably one of the top 10 punters that ever played in the NFL.

Greg Coleman
Career Highlights
•Led the team in punting his entire 10-year career with the Vikings
•Holds team career records in punts (721) and punts inside the 20-yard line (154)
•Member of the Vikings 40th Anniversary Team

[PurpleJarl]

Everyone has a right to their opinion but can we please keep this about Kluwe and Locke or any other punter that may replace him and not all of OUR opinions about each others opinions on Kluwe's opinions? Part of my job is to deal with these kinds of topics on a daily basis and I really don't want to see it take over the VIKINGS TALK thread too.

[dead_poet]

I would strongly argue that Greg Coleman was far and away the best punter that ever played for the Vikings and probably one of the top 10 punters that ever played in the NFL.

Greg Coleman
Career Highlights
•Led the team in punting his entire 10-year career with the Vikings
•Holds team career records in punts (721) and punts inside the 20-yard line (154)
•Member of the Vikings 40th Anniversary Team

Those aren't very impressive stats, to be honest. Led the team in punting? Did the Vikings carry more than one punter during those 10 seasons?

Career attempts is hardly impressive. That's like saying a guy is a super running back because he got a lot of carries. What did he do with the carries?

Kluwe has 198 career punts inside the 20-yard line, eclipsing Coleman's 154. And he did it in only 8 seasons (compared to Coleman's 10).

Furthermore, Coleman's punting average was 40.6 yards. Kluwe's is 45.

Not sure what you're seeing that makes Coleman the superior punter. Of course, this is a little like debating which is the tallest midget.

[Skoltastic_Voyage]

^ What PurpleJarl. Like I said Kluwe is an amazing holder, shanked some nasty punts last year though. I have no problem with competition for him.

Is he a good guy? I think so but if he is going to kick balls 25 yards sideways out of bounds he needs to get his act together or be replaced.

Oh and for what it's worth, I don't like any political or religious crap in football. Tributes once in a while aren't bad but seems like every little thing needs attention. If Kluwe wants to support Nazis or Black Panthers I don't care as long as he plays great and keeps his personal agendas off the field.