In response to the Minnesota Vikings announcing Thursday that Mike Priefer is being retained as the team’s special teams coordinator, the attorney of former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe is speaking up.
Kluwe believes part of the reason he was released following the NFL Draft last year was because Priefer, general manager Rick Spielman and former head coach Leslie Frazier didn’t agree with his public support of same-sex marriage. The Vikings conducted an independent review of Kluwe’s allegations, and his attorney Clayton Halunen doesn’t believe it was an honest investigation.
“It appears from our point of view that this whole investigation may have been one big charade because it appears that the Vikings are interested in doing business as usual,” Halunen said, via the Star Tribune. “They are just going to protect Priefer as if nothing happened and simply pretend that this outrageous conduct didn’t occur, when the evidence is quite the contrary.”
In an interview the the Pioneer Press, Halunen said it’s only a matter of time before they take legal action against Priefer and the Vikings.
“It’s just a matter of when we begin litigation,” he said. “That’s the only question in my mind now. Do we immediately file suit or do we wait and see if we get the confirmation we get from their supposed investigation?”
In an scathing article published by Deadspin last month, Kluwe called Priefer a “bigot” and Spielman and Frazier “cowards.”
“It’s my belief, based on everything that happened over the course of 2012, that I was fired by Mike Priefer, a bigot who didn’t agree with the cause I was working for, and two cowards, Leslie Frazier and [general manager] Rick Spielman, both of whom knew I was a good punter and would remain a good punter for the foreseeable future, as my numbers over my eight-year career had shown, but who lacked the fortitude to disagree with Mike Priefer on a touchy subject matter.”
Chris Kluwe comment on Priefer retained: "As far as I know, the investigation hasn't been concluded. So I'll be waiting for that to happen''
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) February 6, 2014
Priefer was already under contract for the 2014 season before the team announced he was being retained, but that doesn’t mean the Vikings can’t reevaluate the situation once the independent investigation concludes.
