Farewell Kluwe

[HornedMessiah]

Spielman takes a punter in the 5th, eh? That's a pretty strong sign that the guy will be the punter moving forward (and the kickoff guy too, apparently). Any kind of talk in the media of there being a competition between Locke and Kluwe for the spot is nonsense: Kluwe is done in purple.

I enjoyed having him on the team and wish him luck. He seems like a pretty cool, down-to-earth dude but I can understand why the front office and coaches might have gotten tired of him. I might agree with a lot of the opinions he's voiced in social media and whatnot, but it's probably too much of a distraction (especially coming from a punter)

[Eli]

Mike Priefer had a lot of success last year. I'm betting he had a big voice in the war room and was the main guy behind this pick.

[Funkytown]

I met Kluwe today. Got his autograph. He is a great guy. He was interviewed after and said he wants to retire a Viking. With that being said, he admitted that his "distractions" could lead the Vikings to look elsewhere. Regardless, I like Kluwe. He's a strong, intelligent man who speaks his mind and shares his heart. Heaven forbid he has a life and feelings beyond football. Darn him for being human. Just darn it.

[losperros]

I met Kluwe today. Got his autograph. He is a great guy. He was interviewed after and said he wants to retire a Viking. With that being said, he admitted that his "distractions" could lead the Vikings to look elsewhere. Regardless, I like Kluwe. He's a strong, intelligent man who speaks his mind and shares his heart. Heaven forbid he has a life and feelings beyond football. Darn him for being human. Just darn it.

I like Kluwe too for all the reasons that you just mentioned.

I've seen Locke play for UCLA and he has a big foot. Very powerful. But a better punter than Kluwe? I don't know.

[petev_sj]

Sad to see him go. He has been a Viking since his debut in 2005, but the nature of pro sports is moving on. Next season it will probably be KWill, then eventually **Gasp** even AD will out live his usefulness.

[headless_norseman]

Kluwe just might be the type to retire because he has a "life".

[HornedMessiah]

Kluwe just might be the type to retire because he has a "life".

True, he seems to be into a lot of different things and I see him being successful in whatever he does after football, but c'mon he's a punter. He could play in the league for ten more years if he wants to and make a lot of moolah. He's good at what he does and if he loves doing it, why not?

Just don't sign with Seattle. Anywhere but Seattle.

I have a feeling it will be

[PurpleKoolaid]

Spielman takes a punter in the 5th, eh? That's a pretty strong sign that the guy will be the punter moving forward (and the kickoff guy too, apparently). Any kind of talk in the media of there being a competition between Locke and Kluwe for the spot is nonsense: Kluwe is done in purple.

I enjoyed having him on the team and wish him luck. He seems like a pretty cool, down-to-earth dude but I can understand why the front office and coaches might have gotten tired of him. I might agree with a lot of the opinions he's voiced in social media and whatnot, but it's probably too much of a distraction (especially coming from a punter)

^
This

[Funkytown]

I'm not sure how I feel about him playing for another team. If we let him go, I'd be shocked if a few other teams didn't try to scoop him up. I'm not sure how much the guy even cares about football, though. So he might just call it quits. Paul Allen was joking with him about that. Basically saying he doesn't even follow football and probably doesn't even know who was picked first overall. lol. But, Kluwe was talking about his wife and kids and living in Southern Cali. Plus he was talking about his band and his video games. He also has some small business he's running. All that good stuff. Yeah, wouldn't be shocked if he just walked away...but I want him to stick around for a few more years! Then he can go live his life in Cali! I'm not done with him yet. lol.

[Eli]

I'm not sure how I feel about him playing for another team.

What, and break up the band? Dude. Not cool.

[Skoltastic_Voyage]

True, he seems to be into a lot of different things and I see him being successful in whatever he does after football, but c'mon he's a punter. He could play in the league for ten more years if he wants to and make a lot of moolah. He's good at what he does and if he loves doing it, why not?

Just don't sign with Seattle. Anywhere but Seattle.

I have a feeling it will be

Same, if we have another player jump ship to Seattle this year I'm going to puke. I bet Seattle takes KWill JA and AD when we jettison them. Slutbag Seattle.

[Purplekush]

He was mediocre last year, and demonstrated no desire to improve. He gave off the impression that this "game" as he dismissively put it was beneath him, but I guarantee this has to do with his on-field performance, although his diverse interests off-field likely was the source of his apparent regression.

[HornedMessiah]

If it's performance based, I'm fine with it. If it's because they think all his off-field interests are distracting him too much from football, I'm fine with that too. But if they're really going to get rid of him because they don't like him being an outspoken internet person or whatever, I have a problem with that. It's not like he's a trouble maker, and my god look at some of the thugs and idiots that continue to stay with teams in this league despite off-field stuff that's just stupid or plain criminal. Chris Cook, anyone...?

Eli, I think you're right about Priefer beating the table for this to happen. Here's a snippit from a PFT article today after the Vikes made the pick:

Late last season, after Kluwe was fined for putting a message on his jersey supporting Ray Guy’s Hall of Fame candidacy, Vikings special teams coordinator Mike Priefer showed his irritation.

“I don’t even want to talk about that,” Priefer said, according to a transcript from the club. “Those distractions are getting old for me, to be quite honest with you. Do I think Ray Guy deserves to be in the Hall of Fame Absolutely, but there’s other ways of going about doing it, in my opinion.”

Maybe Priefer just doesn't like the guy

[Raptorman]

If Kluwe is cut, I don't see him going to another team. I think he would move on from football. He is way to intelligent not to try something else. I believe he said it himself once in an interview that he only does it because someone pays him millions of dollars to kick a football. And it gives him time to be at home.

[Rus]

Years ago, when Darren Bennett retired and the Vikings were still feeling the effects of the Leo Araguz experiment, in a draft with punters that were even more highly rated than the ones in this draft, I suggested that maybe Tice should try drafting a punter.

No one on this board (was it still usenet at that time? I think it was in the early days of the vmb) backed my idea up. A few even thought it was a ridiculous thing to suggest.

Tice found Kluwe on the wire after he was up in Seattle, and that was that. He's been a very reliable punter and a kick holder since.

Now, after a fairly average year for him (but one in which he experimented with having a voice about certain issues that I'm quite sure certain people on this discussion board are very, very uncomfortable with), suddenly many of you people are all about drafting a punter.

If you don't like what he says, then don't pay attention. It's his opinion. I'd bet his opinion has drawn a lot of people's attention, positively, that never would have even considered watching football. Maybe even buying a football jersey. But you don't have to pay attention to it. Most people who say "shut up and do your job" have opinions they voice very loudly on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, whatever. Those people probably wouldn't like it if their co-workers were to threaten to turn them in to their boss or if their boss cut off their First Amendment rights because they felt like you speaking your mind was making you do a bad job.

One thing about Locke: his best ability is kickoffs. Something that Blair Walsh is already very good at. However, the guy that has been holding for our kicker is Kluwe. Kickers are very particular about their holders. It's kind of amazing...even great kickers, when you change their holders, seem to struggle. It's happened many times before, even to Vikings kickers. A punter with a "big leg" has also got to be able to hold back if they're within the 50 yard line because if they drop it into the end zone, they are handing the other team 20 yards instantly and that comes off their net yards average. Something for you guys to think about and me to gloat about. When your punter has opinions you don't like, then some of you are suddenly very happy about the team throwing a draft pick at that punter...even if you don't know anything about that punter.

If Locke were to take up the mantle and say a lot of the same things in a year or two...it would be really interesting to see how some of you react.