Kluwe Not Punting On Free Speech

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN- CIRCA 2011: In this handout image provided by the NFL, Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings poses for his NFL headshot circa 2011 in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Chris Kluwe's occupation is punter for the NFL Minnesota Vikings, sent in whenever his team's offense fails to make it past the 50-yard line.  His job is to kick the ball and land it as deep into the other team's territory as possible, without going into the end zone.  Punting is not the most glamorous role in football, unless your name is Ray Guy.

Right now, Kluwe is the most famous punter in America, and not for anything he's done on the field.  He's stepped into the gay marriage debate by writing a letter to a Maryland state legislator named Emmet C. Burns, Jr, a Democrat representing Baltimore County who also happens to be a minister, defending the right of Baltimore Ravens player Brendon Ayanbadejo to speak out in favor of it.  Burns, who doesn't support gay marriage, wanted the Ravens to request that the team find a way to silence Mr. Ayanbadejo.

The Deadspin web site published Kluwe's profanity-laced missive (read it at www.deadspin.com, or just scroll down to the bottom of this blog), and it got a lot of attention on social media.  Ellen DeGeneres, the noted talk-show host and sometime gay activist by virtue of her being lesbian, praised Kluwe's letter on her TV show.

If you're wondering why more athletes don't speak up about the issues, we have a couple of theories as to why they tend to check their First Amendment rights at the door:

(1) Hey, It Must Be The Money.  Team owners and corporations (most of whom tend to support Republicans) lavish millions of dollars in contracts and endorsements on players to give them the kind of lifestyle they otherwise wouldn't have had.  So why would they want to offend those who buy the tickets and the products they advertise on TV?

(2) Sports Leagues Have an Image to Protect.  They want to be seen as family-friendly entertainment, to be enjoyed by Mom, Dad, the kids and their grandparents.  That's why they spend so much time sucking up to The Troops, or splash pink on nearly everything to raise "awareness" about breast cancer.  That's why bad forms of sportsmanship such as steroid use, bounties on certain players and end zone touchdown dances aren't tolerated.  It's too bad the average family is usually priced out of these "family-friendly" events.

(3) "Out" Is Out of Bounds.  How many gay athletes there are, we don't know.  We've come to accept, however grudgingly, the fact that there are lesbians in women's sports.  We know about gay athletes who came out of the closet, but only after their playing days are done.  What's going to happen when a currently active player on a pro sports team makes his sexuality public?  Will he make his teammates nervous?  Will opposing fans shower him with various forms of verbal abuse, and (sometimes) death threats?  Or will there be (gulp) acceptance?

In Minnesota, where Kluwe plies his trade, voters will soon decide whether the state constitution should include an amendment banning same sex marriage.  Never mind that there already is a law prohibiting two men or two women from getting hitched.  That's not likely to change no matter how the vote comes out.

Chris Kluwe, an employee of the National Football League, has yet to be reprimanded by commissioner Roger Goodell for not toeing the company line when it comes to social causes that don't involve their favorite charities.  If that's so, then it's a positive sign that not all athletes are willing to trade their brains in for money.  If it's not, then Goodell has just signaled that in the NFL, at least, tolerance is a one-way street.

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• "They Won't Magically Turn You Into A Lustful Cockmonster": Chris Kluwe Explains Gay Marriage To The Politician Who Is Offended By An NFL Player Supporting It [Nfl]