One person that seems to be in Kluwe's corner is Minnesota governor Mark Dayton. Dayton finds it kind of fishy that Kluwe was released a short while after the Vikings said there would be an open competition for the punting job between Kluwe and fifth round draft pick Jeff Locke.
“I don't feel good about it,” Dayton, a Democrat, said. “I mean I'm not in position to evaluate the role and their punting abilities. But it seems to me the general manager said right after the draft that they were going to have competition. Well, then he brings the one guy [fifth-round pick Jeff Locke] in, he kicks for a weekend and that's the competition? I mean, I just think sports officials ought to be honest about what the heck is going on. Same way I think public officials should be honest about what's going on. So that bothers me probably as much if not more than the actual decision.”
“If you're going to check and see who's the better kicker under the pressure of an NFL season, seems to me you at least go into the exhibition games and have them both kicking under that kind of pressure,” Dayton said. “If you're to have true competition, that's how I would think you'd resolve it in a straightforward way.
“But that's their decision to make. They don't give me political advice. I don't give them coaching advice.”
I don't agree with the way it all went down, but maybe the Vikings wanted a younger, cheaper option which I find nothing wrong with. It's the way business is done in every way of life. But don't say there is an open competition and can a guy after seeing one guy kick over the weekend.
Dayton can have an opinion, but he's out of his element. Governors should govern and coaches should coach.
