1. Christopher James Kluwe is an American writer, social activist and former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League.
63 Facts About Chris Kluwe
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Chris Kluwe played college football for the UCLA Bruins before signing with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2005.
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Chris Kluwe played in the NFL for the Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, and Oakland Raiders.
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Chris Kluwe was released by the Vikings after the 2012 season, signed with the Oakland Raiders prior to the 2013 season, and was released.
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Chris Kluwe was unable to find another NFL team with which to sign and retired from professional football in 2013.
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Chris Kluwe played three years of varsity football for coach John Barnes at Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, California, and was selected to play in both the California-Texas Shrine game and the CaliFlorida Bowl.
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Chris Kluwe was named a USA Today first-team All-American as a punter.
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Chris Kluwe enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he developed into one of the top punters in the Pac-10 Conference.
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Chris Kluwe graduated in 2005 with a double major in political science and history.
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Chris Kluwe set school records for both total punt yardage and total number of punts in a season in 2003.
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Chris Kluwe was selected as special teams player of the game in the Silicon Valley Football Classic against Fresno State after averaging 44.3 yards on nine kicks.
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Chris Kluwe tied the bowl record with his nine punts and placed three kicks inside the 20-yard line.
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Chris Kluwe was a finalist in his senior year for the Ray Guy Award that annually recognizes the best collegiate punter.
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Chris Kluwe was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Seattle Seahawks in 2005.
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Chris Kluwe had been notified by both the Seahawks and St Louis Rams that either team might draft him in the late rounds.
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Chris Kluwe had an excellent training camp with Seattle, to the point where Donnie Jones was released after the first week of Organized Team Activities, leaving Chris Kluwe and Leo Araguz splitting time during the pre-season games for the punting duties.
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Chris Kluwe was told by the Seahawks prior to the final pre-season game they were going to take him to the practice squad and the Seahawks wanted Chris Kluwe both as a potential back-up and for developmental reasons.
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The Seahawks concerns were well founded as Chris Kluwe was claimed off the waiver wire early the next day by the Vikings.
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Chris Kluwe became one of the most surprising pickups for the Vikings, finishing his first season with an average of 44.1 yards per punt, ranking second in the NFC and sixth in the league.
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The operation was successful and Chris Kluwe returned to the Vikings in full health for the 2006 season.
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On October 25,2007, Chris Kluwe signed an $8.3-million contract extension through 2013.
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On December 20,2010, Chris Kluwe had the dubious distinction of punting the ball that the Chicago Bears' Devin Hester would return for a touchdown, breaking the all-time NFL record for combined punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns.
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Previously in the game, Chris Kluwe had successfully kept the ball out of Hester's hands on four punts.
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In 2011, Chris Kluwe changed his jersey number when the Vikings acquired quarterback Donovan McNabb.
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Chris Kluwe had been playing since 2007 with a torn meniscus.
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Chris Kluwe's discomfort caused by the condition late in 2012 led to him deciding to have surgery during the offseason.
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Chris Kluwe finished the 2012 season with an average of 45.0 yards per punt, ranking tenth in the NFC and 22nd in the league.
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Chris Kluwe had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair a torn meniscus in early 2013.
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Recovery was uneventful and Chris Kluwe was back to full health in a matter of weeks.
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Speculation immediately surfaced that Chris Kluwe's days were numbered with the Vikings due to the use of a relatively high draft round pick for a punter.
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On May 6,2013, Chris Kluwe was released by the Minnesota Vikings.
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Chris Kluwe holds a number of team punt records for the Minnesota Vikings.
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Chris Kluwe signed with the Oakland Raiders on May 15,2013, less than two weeks after being released by the Vikings.
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Chris Kluwe signed for a veteran minimum contract for one year.
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Chris Kluwe was given his old number by the Raiders and competed with Marquette King for the position of punter.
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Chris Kluwe publicly released a letter on September 7,2012, via sports website Deadspin he had sent to Maryland state assembly delegate Emmett Burns, defending the opinions of Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo and condemning Burns on his attempt to stifle Ayanbadejo's free speech.
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On October 1,2012, Chris Kluwe published a letter to the editor that responded to a video statement released by former Viking Matt Birk in supporting a ban on same-sex marriage.
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Chris Kluwe was featured in a documentary called The Last Barrier which aired on NBC Bay Area on December 8,2012.
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Chris Kluwe appeared on the January 18,2013, episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, to discuss his support of same-sex marriage.
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On January 2,2014, Chris Kluwe accused the Vikings of releasing him due to his support of same-sex marriage.
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Chris Kluwe stated that head coach Leslie Frazier told him to stop speaking out on same-sex marriage.
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Chris Kluwe later acknowledged that his comments on Priefer were "a little too harsh originally", and stated that he preferred that the coach get therapy and counseling and return to the league as a role model.
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Chris Kluwe was fined $5,250 for a uniform violation by the NFL.
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On February 18,2025, Chris Kluwe was arrested at a city council meeting in Huntington Beach, California, after protesting the city's decision to display a plaque at the city library that features an acrostic of MAGA.
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Chris Kluwe then announced his intention to commit peaceful civil disobedience and began walking towards the council members, which prompted police officers in attendance to place him in handcuffs and remove him from the meeting.
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Chris Kluwe wrote a blog named "Out of Bounds", which appeared on the website of the St Paul Pioneer Press until 2012.
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Chris Kluwe quit the column in protest after the paper published an editorial in support of the Minnesota Marriage Amendment which would have amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage: Kluwe was not surprised at the paper's position itself, but felt that the editorial was derogatory to amendment opponents while feigning neutrality.
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Chris Kluwe has said that his politics "lean toward the libertarian side", though he says he's "never been a big fan of labels".
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Chris Kluwe is an avid Guitar Hero 2 player, having once made an appearance on Minnesota's 93X radio station while playing the game with Andy McNamara from Game Informer magazine.
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Chris Kluwe is a frequent guest on Minnesota sports station KFAN for "Video Games Weekly" on Wednesday nights.
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Chris Kluwe appeared in a video promoting the MOBA League of Legends, stating that he plays the AD Carry position, and that his favorite champion to play in the game is Vayne.
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Chris Kluwe described how he believes that eSports is a "burgeoning culture of actual sports", and believes it will only continue to grow into a legitimate sports scene, based on low barrier to entry, entertainment value of watching professional players, team-based engagement, and continued social acceptance.
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Chris Kluwe has a Sniper class, hero level character named in his honor in XCOM: Enemy Within, an expansion to XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
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Chris Kluwe won this honor after defeating Firaxis producer and designer Garth DeAngelis in a best-of-three series of online matches of XCOM.
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Chris Kluwe created the unique weapon The Poet's Pen Carved Wand for the game Path of Exile.
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Chris Kluwe formed the band in 2009 with friends Andrew Reiner and Matthew Marshall, and later recruited Jesse Revel to join on lead vocals.
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When Donovan McNabb was traded to Minnesota before the 2011 season, Chris Kluwe offered McNabb the number 5 jersey in exchange for mentioning Tripping Icarus in at least five press conferences, as well as donating $5,000 to Chris Kluwe's charity, and an ice cream cone.
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McNabb didn't mention the band in five separate press conferences, but Chris Kluwe concedes that "in his very first press conference, he mentioned it like twelve times".
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Chris Kluwe cowrote a book with Andrew Reiner, entitled "Prime: A Genesis Series Event ".
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Chris Kluwe contributed a chapter titled "Preparation and Performance" to the 2024 book Kobold Guide to Roleplaying.
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Chris Kluwe released his first tabletop game called Twilight of the Gods on August 31,2017, published by Victory Point Games.
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Chris Kluwe was hired as the special teams coach at Edison High School for the 2017 season.
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Chris Kluwe was fired from Edison High School in February 2025.