When former NFL punter and Internet hero Chris Kluwe penned a scathing column for Deadspin blasting his former team for homophobia and claiming he "was fired by two cowards and a bigot," he knew it'd be a big deal.
But he didn't know it'd be this big of a deal.
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Kluwe's allegations, written in his trademark lively prose, are explosive. He says he was released from the Minnesota Vikings because of his outspoken support for gay marriage — which included appearing at gay rights events and writing an open letter to a Maryland legislator that went viral in 2012. He also says special teams coach Mike Priefer made antigay comments and during one meeting told players, "We should round up all the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows."
The column, published on Thursday, immediately caused a stir in sports circles. By Saturday night, according to Deadspin editor Timothy Burke, it was Deadspin's most popular post of all time:
.@ChrisWarcraft's post now has the most uniques of any article in Deadspin history, with more than 2.42 million new visitors.
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 5, 2014
The Vikings have since denied Kluwe's allegations but will investigate them formally, according to the New York Times.
Kluwe told Mashable by email on Sunday that he welcomed the attention generated by his Deadspin column.
"Hopefully this allows people to have a dialogue about the issue and understand that this is something that we need to deal with as a society," Kluwe told Mashable.
The letter has also put him in the sights of sports fans online, who aren't always known for their civility and intellectual sophistication. He's dealt with plenty of trolls, but says the feedback has been mostly positive.
"About 80% support to 20% negative, but it's the Internet, so I'm used to it," Kluwe told us. "The angry messages are fun to read, but they should really work on their insults. Lazy swearers bore me."
While the Vikings released Kluwe before this season, he says he waited on publishing his searing indictment until this month because he still has friends on the Vikings and doing so during the season "would have made their season miserable."
He also wanted to see if he could catch with another team, but was cut by the Oakland Raiders this pre-season. He doesn't sound hopeful about finding a new team after 10 seasons in the league—thanks in no small part to his status as a high-profile, outspoken gay rights advocate.
"Unfortunately it looks like punting 45 yards outside the numbers just doesn't work with the reputation I appear to have garnered," Kluwe told us.
Image: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images