A few days ago my partner asked about Chris Kluwe and whether he'd
play football again. I said he'd probably like to if only to allow him
to pursue his other outlets like writing. Book deals for an outspoken
NFL punter aren't the norm but they sure are more likely then book deals
for a World of Warcraft gamer who has opinions on marriage equality.
That being said I don't think Kluwe's aritcle today is a desperate
attempt to stay relevant. I think it's about outing a bigot in the
workplace.
I believe Kluwe's story for a few reasons:
- He has nothing to gain. Yes there will be a spike in media attention but the libel suit he could face would be far worse on his pocketbook.
- He's done nothing in the past 18 months to suggest otherwise.
- I've played sports, followed sports and sadly nothing Mike Priefer allegedly said surprises me.
Priefer is certainly entitled to his opinion but it's an opinion that makes him a bigot. He's also not entitled to weld that opinion in a workplace where he's in a
position of power. I truly think Kluwe's goal here was to call out the
behavior of Priefer and also the lack of character in his head coach
and general manager. There's probably a lot of Priefers out there and worse yet a
lot of coaches and GMs who are willing to turn a blind eye to this hate
speech out of fear, laziness or worse yet agreement.
The
sexism, racism and homophobic attitudes that dominate every level of
sport have been on my mind a lot lately. My four year old son has
started playing organized hockey. I'm terrified for that moment when a
teammate, or worse yet a coach, tells him "that's gay" or "you jewed it
up". Granted we're talking pre-schoolers here but my life experience
tells me to expect it at any time. My partner and I will do our best to
raise a kid who stands up and says "that's wrong", but you know what,
that's fucking hard.
It's also fucking hard for
an 18 year old in college or a 32 year old punter in the NFL. Kluwe
might not fit the stereotype athlete but he still exhibits the
attributes we ascribe to them. In his piece he writes "...I still have
friends on the Vikings, and opening up something like this
during the season would not help them focus on their jobs. By doing it
now, I hope they don't have to answer questions about an issue that
concerns only four people, and I hope the issue will have died down
before next season starts." Tell me that's not being a good teammate.
