Orange County native and Minnesota Vikings kicker Chris Kluwe is proving his words are as powerful as his leg.
The former Los Alamitos Griffin is making headlines this week for a sharply-worded letter sent to a Maryland delegate in defense of gay marriage and free speech.
Kluwe stepped into the furor created last week when Maryland state delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. sent a letter to the owner of the Baltimore Ravens, urging the team to “inhibit" the expressions of Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo who publicly favors gay marriage, according to the website Deadspin.com
In response, Kluwe wrote a scathing letter to the delegate.
While much of the letter contains colorful language, Kluwe sums up his position in the first paragraph quoted by Deadspin:
Dear Emmett C. Burns Jr.,
I find it inconceivable that you are an elected official of Maryland's state government. Your vitriolic hatred and bigotry make me ashamed and disgusted to think that you are in any way responsible for shaping policy at any level. The views you espouse neglect to consider several fundamental key points, which I will outline in great detail (you may want to hire an intern to help you with the longer words):
Kluwe goes on to chastise Burns regarding the first Amendment:
“As I suspect you have not read the Constitution, I would like to remind you that the very first, the VERY FIRST Amendment in this founding document deals with the freedom of speech, particularly the abridgment of said freedom. By using your position as an elected official (when referring to your constituents so as to implicitly threaten the Ravens organization) to state that the Ravens should 'inhibit such expressions from your employees,' more specifically Brendon Ayanbadejo, not only are you clearly violating the First Amendment, you also come across as a narcissistic…stain.”
Kluwe closes with:
P.S. I've also been vocal as hell about the issue of gay marriage so you can take your "I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing" and shove it in your close-minded, totally lacking in empathy piehole and choke on it.
Click here to read Deadspin’s story containing the full text of the letter.
Kluwe’s letter is earning him cheers on a facebook page for his alma mater, Los Alamitos High School. What do you think of his letter?
