Kicking Politics Around With Candidate Kluwe...
The former Vikings punter and I just spent a lively hour on the phone talking politics, his run for California State Assembly, and the 2009 -10 NFC Championship game.
Professional athletes live and thrive together in the chaos - it’s pervasive and chronic - and reaction times to haphazard events on an NFL field are measured in milliseconds. Imagine the life of an NFL punter if you can, as they trot out to do their thing. The whole operation, from snap to boot takes less than two seconds, with elite and savage disrupters barreling straight at them as they look to get the ball away without incident.
Standing back there alone, sometimes right under your own goalposts in a hostile stadium, occasionally in freezing rain or swirling winds, eyeing the field, scouting the dangers, processing all that information, and then executing the kick, is not a job for the meek. And, if you don’t get belted on a roughing play, or smoked on a block, you may find yourself in the most unenviable position of having to try - try to make a touchdown saving tackle as the team’s last line of defense. And all of this is done with millions of people watching.
“Team” - is an important theme and compelling construct for Kluwe in his professional and personal life, and now, it is again, as he runs for office. Chris Kluwe is running for California State Assembly (AD-72) and has a shot.
Kluwe, like many elite pro athletes I’ve been around, functions best in the chaos, and with teammates focused on the same goal.
And few in the sport have done what he used to do as well or better than Chris Kluwe, the former Minnesota Vikings punter from 2005-2012. He holds all relevant team punting records, and is top 50 all time among NFL punters for gross punting average.
And on January 24, 2010, with just seconds remaining in the tied NFC Championship game at New Orleans, Chris Kluwe stood on the sideline at midfield next to placekicker Ryan Longwell. One more play to run, and then he and Longwell would jog out and embrace and defy the chaos for the kick. Kluwe would hold it, Longwell would kick it true, and the Vikings would be on their way to the Super Bowl. Standing there, in that moment, Chris was sure this was all going to happen.
But, and Chris will tell you, life is rarely simple and almost never straightforward. Shit happens. High pressure shit. Shit you don’t count on that forces you to change tack. Mistakes get made. Chaos ensues and you’re maybe not even there for it, but you gotta deal with it. And you may not even get the chance at making your mark, or doing what you thought you were meant to do.
Chris Kluwe had no interest in this current particular form of mayhem in which he finds himself - running for political office. He had no thought about joining this crazy, chaotic business of politics - especially now - in this climate - in America in 2026. But, these are crazy times and he didn’t want to stay on the sidelines.
“I was retired. I worked very hard to be retired. I want to get back to retirement. I don’t want to do this. I’m doing this now to help solve problems. I’m not gonna do this for the rest of my life” Kluwe said to me.
Me, I’m a lifelong Vikings fan, as anyone who reads this space will confirm. And that put Kluwe on my radar all those years ago. He was different than most of the athletes I see and have been around.
This long-haired renaissance man; this punter dude in shorts, graphic tees, and flip flops who played Warcraft at an elite level; this writer, novelist, and essayist; this video game creator; this musician in a band; this coach, teacher, and mentor; and this unapologetic shit disturber who pulls zero punches, stood out like a purple thumb around the rest of em. If you were a Vikings fan when he was there - he was impossible not to notice.
And if you’re me - you see a guy with some similar wiring.
Kluwe isn’t afraid to speak his mind, and speak his mind he has. You maybe know or heard of him as the guy who, as a Vikings player, took dead aim at anti-gay marriage politician Emmett C. Burns, Jr. with a scathing open letter of rebuke. Activist Kluwe spoke loudly and often and backed gay marriage and LGBTQ rights. And it cost him. It cost him his NFL career.
The letter is remarkable. Here it is.
“Yeah - I was blackballed by the NFL. I’ve said it before.” Kluwe states matter-of -factly.
Maybe you heard about the time (or saw the video) at the Huntington Beach, California city council meeting in February of 2025 when he was arrested for calling MAGA, “… explicitly a Nazi movement…”
That one cost him his job as a teacher and coach at local Edison High School. Here’s the story.
According to Kluwe, he gets angry when ordinary people, and those with muted or unsteady voices are taken advantage of or abused. Or worse.
“Listen, it’s ok to be angry… then find a way to channel it and direct it where it should be directed. I only punch up. Don’t lash out at people who are less fortunate than you are.” Kluwe said to me today.
Yes, Chris Kluwe says none of this campaigning business was planned. None of this was intentional. One thing led to the next and to the next. And before you know it, Chris Kluwe is running for California State Assembly (AD-72), and is likely to get through his California jungle primary and on to the general in November.
But watching him and his life and career arc over the years, and confirming his determination through a thoroughly energetic and lively exchange with him by phone today it’s pretty clear to me that - yeah - maybe he didn’t plan it this way - but - as you’ll read here in the rest of the piece -
Chris Kluwe, finding himself in the chaos of modern American politics was and is… inevitable.
