The Minnesota Vikings organization was aware that Special Teams Coordinator Mike Priefer was making derogatory remarks about gays, long before punter Chris Kluwe went public with those accusations this winter, according to recent comments from Kluwe’s attorney, Clayton Halunen.
Halunen, who is co-counseling the case with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, claimed his client approached Vikings Player Development Director Les Pico about his allegations before he was cut by the Vikings on May 6, 2013.
The controversy then entered the public realm after Deadspin published an article (http://is.gd/EXxEMC) on January 2, 2014 in which Kluwe alleged that Priefer made derogatory remarks about gays and other members of the LGBT community both to him personally and in team meetings. The alleged remarks were made in 2012, when Kluwe was with the Vikings and also speaking out publicly against passage of a constitutional referendum in Minnesota to restrict marriage to heterosexual-only couples.
Kluwe alleged that Priefer’s remarks were intended to humiliate him into silence. When that didn’t happen, Kluwe alleged, other members of the Vikings management team pressured him to tone down his off-the-field comments in favor of equal marriage rights for all. The team ultimately cut him.
After the story broke, the Vikings organization released a statement, saying that it takes the allegations “very seriously and will thoroughly review this matter.” It added that “Chris was released strictly based on his football performance.”
The Vikings also retained former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson and former Justice Department attorney Chris Madel to investigate the matter. The men are interviewing current and former members of the organization. The organization said it is confident the two attorneys will “address the issue with integrity … and … move swiftly and fairly in completing the investigation.” Magnuson and Madel are attorneys at Robins, Kaplan, Ciresi and Miller.
Vikings Vice President of Legal Affairs Kevin Warren also issued the following statement: “This is a highly sensitive matter that we as an organization will address with integrity. Eric and Chris have stellar reputations in both the local and national legal community. They have handled numerous cases involving a wide range of issues, and we are confident they will move swiftly and fairly in completing this investigation.”
Did the Vikings Have Notice?
In a recent development, Halunen noted, not only that Pico, knew about his fellow coach’s comments, but that kicker Blair Walsh was ready to corroborate Kluwe and confirm that was present to hear Priefer’s alleged remarks.
Walsh issued a statement on Jan. 2, supporting Priefer, adding he believed Kluwe was cut only because of his football performance, not because of his views.
“That’s not acceptable to us,” Halunen told ESPN.com. “If he’s going to lie, there has to be accountability. If [players] choose to protect their own self-interests over telling the truth, we’ll have no choice but to litigate the case in a court of law. They’ll have to choose whether they want to perjure themselves and risk going to jail. That’s the only thing we have to force anyone to talk. Every allegation is 100 percent true.”
One of Kluwe’s Objectives
“Chris paid a steep price for speaking out in favor of same-sex marriage rights in 2012 while he was a Vikings player,” Halunen said in a statement in January. “Ultimately it may have cost him both his job with the Vikings and his career as an NFL player, along much emotional anguish over what he believed to be a kind of personal attack on him for his views on a vital issue of human rights.
“Even so, Chris is not bitter towards the Vikings, nor does he carry a personal vendetta against anyone associated with the team. He’s grateful to the Vikings for the great career he had with the team. But he couldn’t stand by when someone with as much influence in sports as a member of the Vikings coaching staff makes dangerous and dehumanizing statements against the LGBT community.”
Kluwe said that among his objectives in the lawsuit is that all professional sporting organizations “institute a zero tolerance policy for bigotry and discrimination against members of the LGBT community.
“I can speak up because I can in my situation, knowing that others who are more vulnerable than me can’t. Things are getting better in professional sports for LGBT people. But the kind of situation I experienced is still all too common — we can do much better yet.”
Kluwe’s stance may be having an impact.
Six days after the story broke, the National Hockey League became the first professional sports league in North America to have each of its member teams represented by players voicing support for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) athletes and fans.
“Having full and, more importantly, ongoing participation from the NHL, is a milestone for acceptance of all athletes at every level of play and sport,” said Wade Davis, Executive Director of the You Can Play project. “Every major mens sports league has been represented in a You Can Play video and now every team in one of the world’s premier sports leagues has actively participated. This support from professional leagues has a positive impact in locker rooms and anywhere sports are played.”
“Young athletes everywhere look up to National Hockey League players as leaders on inclusion,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Our players, our Clubs and every member of the NHL family will strive to support important initiatives such as You Can Play in our local communities and around the world.”
You Can Play (www.YouCanPlayProject.org) is a Denver-based non-profit organization dedicated to changing the culture of locker rooms and sports venues to include all athletes and fans regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The project honors the life of the late Brendan Burke, an openly gay student manager of the Miami University (Ohio) hockey team. You Can Play has formal partnerships with the NHL, MLS, CWHL and a number of Canadian, minor league and NCAA conferences and teams.
