Kluwe: Cut due to outspoken views

Kluwe’s stance on same-sex marriage drew headlines during the fall of 2012, when he helped with the charge to defeat a Minnesota constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as being between one man and one woman. Voters rejected the amendment, and the Minnesota State Legislature legalized same-sex marriage this past spring.

In the Deadspin piece, Kluwe said Frazier first asked him to stop speaking out about same-sex marriage in September 2012, shortly before the Vikings’ season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Frazier relented later that month, Kluwe wrote, after team owner Zygi Wilf told Kluwe before the Jaguars game he was proud of the punter for speaking out.

Late in the 2012 season, with the Vikings chasing a playoff berth, Kluwe wore a “Vote Ray Guy” patch on his jersey to campaign for the Hall of Fame. That seemed to wear on Priefer.

“Those distractions are getting old for me, to be quite honest with you,” Priefer said at the time. “Do I think Ray Guy deserves to be in the Hall of Fame? Absolutely. But there’s other ways of going about doing it, in my opinion.

To me, it’s getting old,” Priefer added, referring to Kluwe’s advocacy. “He’s got to focus on punting and holding.”

Kluwe said Wilf’s wife also approached him before a November game and encouraged him to keep doing what he was doing.

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