Chris Kluwe, whose off-field advocacy has made him the NFL’s highest-profile punter, is no longer an NFL punter at all.
Kluwe wrote on Twitter on Sunday that Marquette King had beaten him out for the Raiders’ punting job.
“Thanks to everyone at the Raiders for the opportunity this preseason. It was a blast. Marquette King’s got a bright future with you guys!” Kluwe wrote. “Feel like we both had a pretty strong preseason. No regrets.”
Kluwe has become well known for his outspoken support of gay marriage, and for his appearances on talk shows and his memoir, Beautifully Unique Sparklepoines. There’s been some talk around the NFL that coaches think Kluwe is too focused on his off-field concerns and not focused enough on punting, but in the case of the preseason battle with King, it’s probably a simple matter of Kluwe losing his job to a player who’s younger and whose contract makes him cheaper. In that respect, Kluwe is no different from scores of other unemmployed football players today.