Farewell Kluwe

[Just Me]

Can't believe folks don't get the dynamic at work here. First off, I feel safe saying the VAST majority of NFL players are 95% evaluated on their PLAY ON THE FIELD. The vast, vast, vast majority.

In those cases where "personality" has to creep into the equation, and it does, there is an indirect relationship between what kind of distraction you are versus what kind of player you are.

IF - and that is a big IF IMO, Kluwe's personality crept into the decision of drafting a punter, well then his talent simply no longer outweighed his distraction factor.

Face it - if you want to be a distraction in the coaches eyes, you had better UNQUESTIONABLY be one of the top two punters in the league. Kluwe is not, was not, and has shown (IMO) little desire to get there.

I have absolutely zero problems with coaching staffs all over the NFL making decisions this way. They are trying to build a team dynamic along with team talent. If they choose to let Kluwe go because his "distraction factor" no longer outweighs his talent, well heck, isn't that what we just did with Harvin?

And yes, you do not have a say in what is a distraction for an NFL team and what is not. That is the sole realm of the FO and coaching staff. Sorry.

Excellent post and gets to the heart of the matter. Look only to Randy Moss for an example. Randy is Randy and was always a distraction. When his play was amongst the best in the league the Vikings just put up with it. When his age caught up with him to where he was 'only' good, teams were less inclined to deal with his distractions.

[PacificNorseWest]

To piggyback off what psjordoan said, this is what I said earlier that still seems to be overlooked as people want to turn this into something it is not.

...if you're an NFL franchise that can choose between an outspoken, but mediocre punter, or a rookie who will quietly go about his job and at the very least bring the same mediocrity...You go the latter every time.

[glg]

A large number of posts were deleted in this thread. NO POLITICS. For those that are new, READ THE RULES.

[Eli]

From the sounds of it, Kluwe could be gone as early as next week, after they've had a look a Locke.

“That has absolutely nothing to do with our decision,” Spielman said, “and I did meet with Chris Kluwe [Monday] and actually told him that our ownership had supported him on this. If he wants to go out and speak for what his beliefs are we’re all for the right of the First Amendment and free speech and I told Chris and emphasized that to Chris [Monday].

“My job is to make the best football decisions for our organization, and when we drafted Locke we knew there was going to be some controversy, is Kluwe going to be here, not be here. We’re basing this purely off of football only and I think Chris truly understands that especially after I did speak with him again [Monday] about that. What I also told Chris was we’ll go through [a rookie minicamp] this weekend to kind of see where we’re at and then I’ll meet with him on Monday and we’ll go forward from there.”

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... et-monday/

[Purple bruise]

What a class act Spielman is and I am very thankful that he is the GM . He is building the Vikes into a winner

[Eli]

It was pretty obvious when they drafted Locke that he was likely to get Longwell'd.

Yeah, but there was Kluwe saying he wanted to stay and compete for the job, maybe not quite realizing that it isn't up to him.

[Demi]

Hopefully they get rid of him sooner rather than later. No use keeping him around. Will save us a bit on the cap too.

[NextQuestion]

I wonder if Kluwe and Longwell will both end up on Seattle's "in a playoff pinch" roster.

[PurpleMustReign]

One of the guys that I work with rattled off all of these stats about how far Kluwe coupd kick the ball and said the Vikings are stupid for getting rid of him. It amazes me how some people can be so "one dimensional" when it comes to football, or any other sport. There is more to punting than kicking the ball as high and far as you can. One of Kluwe's weakness, imo, was his inability to coffin corner the opponent consistently. Actually, many punterz have that issue so i know it isnt easy. But if Locke can do that well, then kudos to the Vikings for upgrading the position.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

[KilgoreT]

If this is a performance decision then OK, decisions have to be made. I wish Kluwe all the best and respect him standing up for freedom of speech and human rights and would love to have someone of his character on our SB winning team.

[PurpleJarl]

Best of luck to him

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_ ... f-advocacy


According to Seifert Kluwe was apparently a lot worse then we all thought he was. I am glad for the upgrade though I will miss his shenanigans

[NextQuestion]

Honestly - screw Kevin Seifert. That guy hates Kluwe and is a raging right winger and it's pretty obvious in his writing. Even Deadspin called out Seifert once.

[Mothman]

Honestly - screw Kevin Seifert. That guy hates Kluwe and is a raging right winger and it's pretty obvious in his writing. Even Deadspin called out Seifert once.

... and we all know Deadspin is a paragon of journalistic integrity.

I've never seen or heard any indication that Siefert hates Kluwe and his post on Kluwe's release didn't display any right wing bias. In fact, he painted what is likely a very accurate picture of this move by the Vikings. He summed it all up pretty nicely in this section of his post:

When viewed through the bigger picture of NFL business, and in the context of the Vikings' personnel approach over the past 16 months, you realize that Kluwe's off-field life was at best the final shove at the end of the plank.

The facts:
Kluwe finished 2012 ranked No. 31 among NFL punters in a statistic the Vikings value highly: punts downed inside the 20. Of Kluwe's 72 punts, 18 settled in what the league considers poor field position. By comparison, the Chicago Bears' Adam Podlesh nearly doubled Kluwe's total among his 81 punts. Podlesh finished with 34, while Green Bay Packers punter Tim Masthay had 30 in 70 punts.
Kluwe set a career high with a 39.9-yard net average, but that mark still ranked in the lower half (No. 18 overall) among punters.
In a relatively flat salary-cap era, the Vikings had an opportunity for significant savings. Because of a rarely needed NFL rule, Kluwe has no acceleration remaining on his six-year deal. Thus, all of his projected $1.45 million cap figure has been erased. His replacement, Jeff Locke, will count about a third of that total. In two years, in fact, the Vikings have shaved 23 years off the combined age of their punter and place-kicker and have lowered their cap commitment for those roles by two-thirds.

So in cold business terms, the Vikings had a 31-year-old punter who turned in a below-average performance last season and was entering the final year of his contract. They had several options, including keeping Kluwe for one more season, before deciding whether to re-sign him.

In other words, the Vikes saw an opportunity to upgrade the punter position with a younger, cheaper option and they seized it. That sounds like business as usual in the NFL. I doubt Kluwe's politics or personality even played as much of a role as Siefert suggests it did.

[saint33]

... and we all know Deadspin is a paragon of journalistic integrity.

I've never seen or heard any indication that Siefert hates Kluwe and his post on Kluwe's release didn't display any right wing bias. In fact, he painted what is likely a very accurate picture of this move by the Vikings. He summed it all up pretty nicely in this section of his post:
In other words, the Vikes saw an opportunity to upgrade the punter position with a younger, cheaper option and they seized it. That sounds like business as usual in the NFL. I doubt Kluwe's politics or personality even played as much of a role as Siefert suggests it did.

Bingo. Had this been any other punter in the league, it would have been just been a side note on sports ticker feeds. Kluwe is not being released for his political stances and off the field antics, however his release is getting attention for that reason.

[mondry]

In other words, the Vikes saw an opportunity to upgrade the punter position with a younger, cheaper option and they seized it. That sounds like business as usual in the NFL. I doubt Kluwe's politics or personality even played as much of a role as Siefert suggests it did.

Sounds about right, get a better player and for cheaper? That seems like a no brainer imo. Of course we've yet to see if he's actually better but according to those stats he certainly could be. I see it as no different than Walsh over longwell. Longwell made a lot of kicks, it's not like he was "bad" either, but walsh was cheaper and an upgrade so it's an easy decision.

I'll miss kluwe, he was a fun guy, I've played a lot of the same games as him, though our paths never aligned. It was cool to see a gamer succeed in a physical sport like football, even if he was just the punter. He's a smart dude and should he choose to be done with football I'm sure he has the funds to pursue whatever else he wants to do or fight for whatever cause he wants to fight for.

Best of luck kluwe!