The bravely outspoken Chris Kluwe is rapidly retreating from his
previous comments about the moral imperative to blackball Mike Priefer
and render him unemployable now that current Vikings are speaking out against him.
Harrison Smith came to the
defense of special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer on Friday, calling the
accusations made by former punter Chris Kluwe “a shame.”As
a rookie in 2012, Smith said he attended many special-teams meetings
with Priefer and Kluwe. “In my experience with Coach Priefer, he has
been nothing but a
classy guy,” Smith said in a phone interview. “He’s been respectful for
everybody’s views, whether you’re black, white, Mexican, any religion.
… I just think it’s a shame to take a shot at a guy when he can’t
defend himself. I just don’t think it’s very fair that you can say
whatever you
want that somebody said something to you and you don’t really have any
person to back it up. I don’t think that’s good. I just think it’s a
slippery slope.”
The article also notes that Vikings kicker Blair
Walsh has also spoken publicly in defense of the special teams coach.
Underlying Sparklegate is the fact that there isn’t a single sane player
in the NFL who wants the league to get into the business of politically
policing the views of its players and its coaches. Even if Priefer did
say it would be a smashing idea to put all the gays on an island and
nuke it until it glows, not only is that his perfect right to express
his opinion, but I guarantee it is a more moderate view than that held
by many of the black players in the league. They’re not exactly what one
would call keen on “that sweet stuff”. Can’t be in there with that,
nah.
As an NCAA D1 sprinter, I competed against several
future NFL players. And believe me, merely being a) white, and b) under
200 pounds was enough to provoke suspicious stares and the occasional
interrogation about your sexual preferences. From what I observed, elite
black athletes really do not like the “little white faggots” who
fetishize them.
Remember, the NFL does not only consist
of educated white coaches who speak in hyperbole. As politically
correct as the league is, it also has to be coldly realistic about the
possibility of groups of 75 IQ steroid-addled physical specimens
reacting to an inappropriate pass in the locker room by beating someone
to death. The Hernandez case is bad enough; like it or not, the NFL has
very good reasons for wanting to keep homosexuality tightly locked in
the closet and none of them involve religious white conservatives.
It appears Sparklepunter is finally beginning to realize just how deeply he has put his foot in it. If he doesn’t continue to rapidly backtrack, he’s going to come out of this looking more racist than a card-carrying Ku Klux Klan member.