Quite a kick

By Mustang Bobby

The great Chris Kluwe.

Baltimore Raven player Brendan Ayanbadejo expressed support for Maryland's referendum on marriage equality, much to the ire of Baltimore County state delegate Emmett Burns (and a Democrat, oy), who wrote a letter to the Ravens owner, basically telling him to shut his team member up.

That got the attention of Chris Kluwe, a punter for the Minnesota Vikings, and he knows how to kick. David Zirin at The Nation sums it up:

The punter sat down at his computer and produced the greatest political statement by any athlete ever... or at least since Muhammad Ali told the US Government that "the real enemy of my people is here." Perhaps that's hyperbole. Certainly it's arguable. But what's undeniable is the greatness of Kluwe's rant. I quote my favorite parts below but I strongly encourage people to read it in it's entirety here at deadspin. Warning that it's brilliantly profane, or profanely brilliant, so you might not want to print it out at work and leave it lying around. Then again, if you work in a place with NFL fans prone to homophobic slurs, you might want to leave it everywhere.

Here's just a part of it, in all its glory:

I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life. They won't come into your house and steal your children. They won't magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster. They won't even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population -- rights like Social Security benefits, child care tax credits, Family and Medical Leave to take care of loved ones, and COBRA healthcare for spouses and children. You know what having these rights will make gays? Full-fledged American citizens just like everyone else, with the freedom to pursue happiness and all that entails. Do the civil-rights struggles of the past 200 years mean absolutely nothing to you? In closing, I would like to say that I hope this letter, in some small way, causes you to reflect upon the magnitude of the colossal foot in mouth clusterf-ck you so brazenly unleashed on a man whose only crime was speaking out for something he believed in. Best of luck in the next election; I'm fairly certain you might need it.

Sincerely,

Chris Kluwe

Touchdown and endzone dance. 

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)