Vikings Message Board.Com

Valhalla wrote:Per Kluwe's twitter account, swearing and then this remark:
https://twitter.com/ChrisWarcraft

This guy is calling others bigots?? Really?? Another thing, is that that band that got jailed was in Russia. What's the main faith over there? The Russian Orthodox Religion, not that that may not have much to do with actions by the Government.

So Kluwe uses his opinions to smear a faith that has nothing to do with what happened. Real trustworthy. Imagine saying that about some other faiths. Hello.

Kluwe may or may not be one of those types that would tear signs down in someone's yard but I'd definitely have some doubts about what he is asserting. He may well be embellishing his story.

And that means, maybe some in the Vikes were not for changing the definition of an institution that has been around for thousands of years and in every culture and that may be the most these people did.

Huh? What did Kluwe do wrong now? Watch a documentary and speak of it? He's dangerous!

fiestavike wrote:Deep Thoughts with Chris Warcraft.

Can't we say #### Riot here?

Guess not.

Meow.

Kluwe retains legal counsel

Former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has retained Twin Cities attorney Clayton Halunen to represent him in the team's investigation into alleged homophobic comments by an assistant coach.

According to a press release, Halunen will serve as co-counsel with the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

the length of time spent on this tempest in a teapot (oh my, cave-man NFL players/coaches make offensive comments!! REALLY??) shows just how low the Vikes have fallen. We have nothing meaningful/interesting/hopeful to talk about so we are left with this drivel.

chicagopurple wrote:the length of time spent on this tempest in a teapot (oh my, cave-man NFL players/coaches make offensive comments!! REALLY??) shows just how low the Vikes have fallen. We have nothing meaningful/interesting/hopeful to talk about so we are left with this drivel.

Wow you are moving up fast in the gloom and doom category. You have tons of competiton but you are doing swell

What would happen to the Vikings if they didn't respond to this? The media would say they support the alleged comments. So that to me is non-starter.

lso why is this coming out over a year after Kluwe was cut? That seems a bit dubious to me. Furthermore why is it coming out after a dissapointing season and a management shake up. This also stinks of alterior motives IMO. If this story is in fact libel I hope they take him to court.

If Priefer is guilty of this stuff then the Vikings will have to decide if they wish to continue to be associated with him. Priefer is widely regarded as one of the best ST coaches in the league and the results we've seen in the past two season certainly support this conclusion. IMO his performance on sunday is beyond reproach. So if the Vikings do end up canning him as a fan I will be dissapointed as it will be a completely PR related move in response to what is most likely a disgruntled punter of all things. (yes it is that ridiculous.) That to me would be an unncecessary set back.

Whatever happened to freedom of speech in this country? Now you can lose your job if you say something that society deems as politically incorrect. Slippery Slope...

mansquatch wrote:What would happen to the Vikings if they didn't respond to this? The media would say they support the alleged comments. So that to me is non-starter.

lso why is this coming out over a year after Kluwe was cut? That seems a bit dubious to me. Furthermore why is it coming out after a dissapointing season and a management shake up. This also stinks of alterior motives IMO. If this story is in fact libel I hope they take him to court.

If Priefer is guilty of this stuff then the Vikings will have to decide if they wish to continue to be associated with him. Priefer is widely regarded as one of the best ST coaches in the league and the results we've seen in the past two season certainly support this conclusion. IMO his performance on sunday is beyond reproach. So if the Vikings do end up canning him as a fan I will be dissapointed as it will be a completely PR related move in response to what is most likely a disgruntled punter of all things. (yes it is that ridiculous.) That to me would be an unncecessary set back.

Whatever happened to freedom of speech in this country? Now you can lose your job if you say something that society deems as politically incorrect. Slippery Slope...

I don't like the current cultural trend of turning people into pariahs for saying the wrong thing or having the wrong view (I mean "wrong' in the current, culturally unacceptable sense) but the right to freedom of speech doesn't guarantee freedom from consequences.

I'm fine with their being consequences, but we are in a situation where people (not in the organization) are calling for this guy's head becaue he may or may not have said something that a swath of the population find offensive. This something is also completely unrelated to NFL football. That situation is in of itself a problem.

It would be entirely different if he committed libel or some other illegal act involving things coming out of his mouth, then by all means punish him to the extent the law requires/allows. Of course he hasn't been accused of that, yet here we are. That is my issue with this mess.

Basically we are in a situation where person Y makes a less than nice comment about subject matter X. If X is culturally popular or talking bad about X is taboo then the guy can lose his livlihood but if X is something else, like say Curling or Boche Ball nobody bats an eye. That to me is scary. What happens when X is a political party or poltical figure? Where does that lead?

Sorry, I know politics are taboo on here and I stay away from it, but this issue just agitates the heck out of me. We are talking about a guy's livlihood, which Kluwe went after because he supposedly said something about an interest group that is presently "popular" in our culture. That disgusts me to no end. Preifer broke no laws and isn't being accused as such. His football performance has been at the very least "GOOD". Yet here we are.

mansquatch wrote: lso why is this coming out over a year after Kluwe was cut? That seems a bit dubious to me. Furthermore why is it coming out after a dissapointing season and a management shake up. This also stinks of alterior motives IMO. If this story is in fact libel I hope they take him to court.

If you believe Kluwe he waited for a combination of reasons. The first is that he didn't want to disrupt the team during the season. The second is that Priefer was in the conversation for head coach and Kluwe didn't want that to happen because of the exchanges they had.

According to his article, he wasn't shy about his motives and admits to timing it when he did. He dislikes Priefer and doesn't want to see him in a leadership role ... it's definitely personal.

mansquatch wrote: If Priefer is guilty of this stuff then the Vikings will have to decide if they wish to continue to be associated with him. Priefer is widely regarded as one of the best ST coaches in the league and the results we've seen in the past two season certainly support this conclusion. IMO his performance on sunday is beyond reproach. So if the Vikings do end up canning him as a fan I will be dissapointed as it will be a completely PR related move in response to what is most likely a disgruntled punter of all things. (yes it is that ridiculous.) That to me would be an unncecessary set back.

I think if the Vikings can him it will likely because the new HC has his own staff in mind unless it comes to light that Priefer actually said these things and it can be proven. Then they might not have much of a choice.

Whatever happened to freedom of speech in this country? Now you can lose your job if you say something that society deems as politically incorrect. Slippery Slope...

Don't confuse freedom of speech with an employers right to issue a code of conduct. Priefer won't be hauled off to jail for his comments because his freedom of speech rights as a citizen are protected. Most employers, however, have some kind of a code of conduct that you have to follow or they can fire you. In general, you sign off on those rules when you're hired and the NFL has more rules than most.

I imagine he’d be in equally (probably more) hot water had he made those kinds of comments about any other particular group of people as well. “All Christians should die”, or “All people of color should die” … these are all the kinds of statements that get public figures in trouble. The trade-off for being a public figure making NFL-dollars is you have to maintain a level of political correctness … even if deep down you’d like all of <insert a type of people here> to die.

Cliff wrote:I imagine he’d be in equally (probably more) hot water had he made those kinds of comments about any other particular group of people as well. “All Christians should die”, or “All people of color should die” … these are all the kinds of statements that get public figures in trouble. The trade-off for being a public figure making NFL-dollars is you have to maintain a level of political correctness … even if deep down you’d like all of <insert a type of people here> to die.

Priefer didn't want anyone to die, Cliff. According to Kluwe, he wanted then to "glow".

mansquatch wrote:I'm fine with their being consequences, but we are in a situation where people (not in the organization) are calling for this guy's head becaue he may or may not have said something that a swath of the population find offensive. This something is also completely unrelated to NFL football. That situation is in of itself a problem.

It would be entirely different if he committed libel or some other illegal act involving things coming out of his mouth, then by all means punish him to the extent the law requires/allows. Of course he hasn't been accused of that, yet here we are. That is my issue with this mess.

Basically we are in a situation where person Y makes a less than nice comment about subject matter X. If X is culturally popular or talking bad about X is taboo then the guy can lose his livlihood but if X is something else, like say Curling or Boche Ball nobody bats an eye. That to me is scary. What happens when X is a political party or poltical figure? Where does that lead?

Sorry, I know politics are taboo on here and I stay away from it, but this issue just agitates the heck out of me. We are talking about a guy's livlihood, which Kluwe went after because he supposedly said something about an interest group that is presently "popular" in our culture. That disgusts me to no end. Preifer broke no laws and isn't being accused as such. His football performance has been at the very least "GOOD". Yet here we are.

It all depends on who you believe. If you believe Kluwe he was actually the one fired for speaking his mind.

Mothman wrote: Priefer didn't want anyone to die, Cliff. According to Kluwe, he wanted then to "glow".

How stupid of me!! I misread this whole ordeal ... I'd love to be able to glow.

Cliff wrote: Don't confuse freedom of speech with an employers right to issue a code of conduct. Priefer won't be hauled off to jail for his comments because his freedom of speech rights as a citizen are protected. Most employers, however, have some kind of a code of conduct that you have to follow or they can fire you. In general, you sign off on those rules when you're hired and the NFL has more rules than most.

It's even simpler than that. Every state (but Montana I think) is an "employment at will" state, and you are considered an "at will" employee whether you sign anything or not. When you are employed "at will", you can be fired for any reason other than those that are illegal at the state or federal level.

In this case, if the Vikes came out and said they fired Kluwe for his public comments on same sex marriage, they'd be fine legally (PR disaster notwithstanding). Unless there are extenuating circumstances, they'd probably have to fire the next guy that did the same thing though.

If Kluwe is claiming he was fired as a result of harassment (and I don't think he is), well, that would be illegal. If Kluwe wants Priefer (what a wierd name) fired for what he allegedly said, well, that's up to the Vikes entirely. They can fire Priefer for pretty much whatever they want. Or not.

"Free speech" has absolutely nothing to do with whether an employer can fire you, Kluwe or Priefer. If an employer does not want you, it's very easy to find a legit reason to fire you.