Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe said Tuesday that the Minnesota Vikings won’t release a report on alleged homophobia by a coach and, according to an unnamed team source, that’s because the findings are “damaging and embarrassing.”
Kluwe, the outspoken LGBT advocate who played eight seasons for the Vikings, alleged in January that his public support for same-sex marriage led to his release from the team in 2013.
In an essay for Deadspin, Kluwe wrote that former head coach Leslie Frazier tried multiple times to silence him and that current special teams coach Mike Priefer often use anti-gay slurs and mocked the punter for his activism.
Frazier was fired at the conclusion of the 2013 season, but Priefer, who vigorously denied Kluwe’s claims, retained his job under new head coach Mike Zimmer.
The Vikings in January announced that two independent lawyers would lead an investigation into the allegations.
But on Tuesday, Kluwe said in a tweet that the Vikings broke a promise to share the findings of the investigation with him. Kluwe will address the development in a press conference in Minneapolis scheduled for 11 a.m. CDT.
According to an unnamed team source who spoke to KSTP for a report published Monday, the decision to withhold the findings is a face-saving move for the franchise. The source said that the Vikings reconsidered releasing the results of its investigation because it was “damaging and embarrassing.”
