Farewell Kluwe

[Mothman]

^ Thanks.

Sometimes you need to go outside the box and not always look at NFL.com, PFT, and Rotoworld. I like reading Deadspin for the most part because it is explicit. My favorite news source is DailyMail UK where nothing is censored at all and they cover things that are hidden in US media.

There's nothing wrong with going off the beaten path but it's important to understand what you're reading. PFT's not a news site. It's a news and rumor site that deals heavily in the latter. Deadspin is a gossip site (run by the founder of gawker.com, a celebrity/entertainment gossip site), not a news site, and the standards are different. Rotoworld is a fantasy sports site. they can all be enjoyable but they aren't the same and there are different degrees of reliability involved.

[NextQuestion]

So what was the point of KS's initial article? Seemed pretty opinion based to me sprinkled with some stats on Kluwe. It just makes me so upset that fans can forgive Chris Cook but god forbid Kluwe has nerdy as heck interests and he's a demon!!!?!

[Mothman]

So what was the point of KS's initial article? Seemed pretty opinion based to me sprinkled with some stats on Kluwe. It just makes me so upset that fans can forgive Chris Cook but god forbid Kluwe has nerdy as heck interests and he's a demon!!!?!

Siefert certainly didn't condemn Kluwe for his interests or demonize him (and as someone who makes most of his living doing work for games, I definitely have no problem with Kluwe's interests). I think his point was simply to comment on the circumstances. As he said right at the beginning of the column, Kluwe's "rise to national celebrity status has coincided with a noticeable dip in his consistency as the Minnesota Vikings' punter. It would be easy to connect the two, and we all know there are some NFL teams that would. Kluwe is fortunate his employer has not."

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... l-employee

Kluwe was in a slump, the Vikings had just worked out another punter and Kluwe was making headlines for the views he was expressing. Siefert's job is to report on what's happening in the NFC North. All of that was happening. Siefert also observed:

At the same time, we know this league is an insulated and team-oriented business. Some of its leaders take that sentiment to extremes. I've covered coaches who would recoil at the idea of a player either drawing attention to himself publicly or dedicating significant amounts of time to pursuits other than football, which might or might not be a distraction or a physical drain. Just the smallest smidgeon of a downturn in performance would be enough to make a move.

As psjordan wrote earlier on this page, from an NFL front-office perspective, a distraction is a distraction is a distraction. Some coaches and teams are bothered more by such things than others but Siefert's point was that when a player is clearly paying a lot of attention to issues unrelated to football and when that attention coincides with a downturn in production, it can lead to trouble for the player.

Siefert made his point clear at the end of the post:

I don't want anyone to read this post and think I'm suggesting Kluwe has made a bad choice here. I admire his passion and willingness to use his platform to take a social stand. I just think he's fortunate there haven't been any professional consequences. It doesn't take much in this league.

Kluwe's gone. I think that was probably a football decision, not a choice based on his willingness to speak his mind, but either way it shows the fragility and instability of his position and I think that's what Siefert was addressing.

[NextQuestion]

I hope it was a football decision!

[PurpleJarl]

As do we all. Regardless of our political views I don't think anyone would be happy if the front office was deciding who was on the field by how far left or right then leaned politically. NO one wants that, and those of us that don't think Kluwe was let go for non footballs reason aren't just burying our heads in the sand. Its what I think based on looking at HIS stats, Lockes stats, and similar decisions made by the team already.

[PacificNorseWest]

Props to Kluwe. He's probably the only punter in the league that could garner a 5 page long thread (and growing) regarding his departure, in the entire NFL.

[PurpleMustReign]

So what was the point of KS's initial article? Seemed pretty opinion based to me sprinkled with some stats on Kluwe. It just makes me so upset that fans can forgive Chris Cook but god forbid Kluwe has nerdy as heck interests and he's a demon!!!?!

do you even read the posts on this board? Or do you just assume you know what people ate thinking/saying?

[DCman11]

As I said, it was purely editorial in nature. the only thing that differentiates it from the kind of thing we do here is that it was published on Deadspin.

...

That behavior, for one.

Look, if you or anybody else likes Deadspin, that's fine. Nobody is saying you can't or shouldn't. The point here is that Tom Ley's little rant calling Siefert's post a "piece of sh##" and Siefert a coward was an unprofessional take by someone with an axe to grind (as he makes pretty clear by beginning his piece with the words "Minnesota Vikings punter and friend of Deadspin Chris Kluwe has been struggling on the field lately"), not some sort of credible evidence that Siefert is a raging right winger who hates Kluwe.

Deadspin is a gossip and opinion site. As I said earlier, there's a place for that but it shouldn't be mistaken for professional journalism.

Fair enough. I just respect them on journalistic grounds. They do their research and when they release stories, they are usually rock-solid. That is more that can be said about 99% of sports media. I do see your point, but I do not think they should be outright dismissed as gossip because they produce opinion pieces.

[NextQuestion]

do you even read the posts on this board? Or do you just assume you know what people ate thinking/saying?

I wasn't even talking about this board but more of the general rube nation. I'd be fine losing Cook. Dude hasn't done anything stat wise in 3 seasons.

[dead_poet]

'PTI:' NFL without Kluwe, Ayanbadejo

Tony Kornheiser raised an interesting point in this "Pardon the Interruption" video clip: How will NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reconcile his support of players who speak out on social issues at a time when two of them, Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo, were recently released?

Kornheiser thinks the NFL will have to find a way to get both of them jobs in 2013, while co-host Mike Wilbon isn't so sure. As we discussed earlier this week, there is plenty of gray area in the release of both players to offer the NFL cover. Kluwe is a 31-year-old punter coming off a down year, while Ayanbadejo will be 37 in September.

Video: http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... ayanbadejo

[glg]

'PTI:' NFL without Kluwe, Ayanbadejo
Video: http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... ayanbadejo

I'm with Wilbon on this one. Pulling strings with regard to player movement isn't something that Goodell does. That's more up David Stern's alley. Kornheiser mentioned that last week when Jason Collins came out, saying if Collins was already considering coming out, now is a great time to do it because he might have had trouble getting a job next year, but now he can almost guarantee he'll have one.

That said, I expect both Kluwe and Ayanbadejo to have jobs next year.

[Mercy Percy]

'PTI:' NFL without Kluwe, Ayanbadejo
Video: http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... ayanbadejo

I hate this notion. You shouldnt need to be getting a job because of your views, it should be based solely on your play, they should both keep their beliefs on the down low. Just like hearing people say ohh this is going to get Jason Collins on another team. NO he shouldnt be on a team because he came out and he was gay. Thats the wrong reason for that.

[jackal]

I love how everyone assumes its because of his views ...

It might just be because they feel other punter will do better for less than Kluwe makes..

The way the new CBA works Veteran players get far more than rookies

[Eli]

That said, I expect both Kluwe and Ayanbadejo to have jobs next year.

Seriously? You expect a 37 year old linebacker to find a job in the NFL?

[CalVike]

I don't like it. Here's why. Last year they turned PK from a liability into a differentiator. This year, on their high horse, they thought let's use the magic and turn the P into a differentiator. But there's far less upside to spending a 5 on a P than a 6 on a PK, even if the hot shot left-footed new P is top notch. And he may not be, history is filled with top draft P who flopped. Kluwe was good enough to go another year, at what is actually far less than top of the league P salary.

To me, GM Rick Spielman got too cute on draft day, dropping a 5 on a P and a 3 and a 4 in a trade. He may regret the opportunity cost of dropping the non-P players he would have picked 3, 4, and 5.

As for Kluwe's outspokenness and the role it played, there's not much there. The Vikings deserve the benefit of the doubt that they acted in good faith in that regard. There is a fair performance argument to be played. This was done because of the tremendous success of the Blair Walsh Project, not to silence am American hero, which he truly is.