Vikings Admit Coach Said ‘Nuke…All The Gays,’ Insist He Was Otherwise Completely Respectful Of LGBT

[MNBrewer]

http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2014/07/19/3462027/vikings-admit-coach-said-nukeall-the-gays-insist-he-was-otherwise-completely-respectful-of-lgbt-advocates/

In January, former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe published an article on Deadspin suggesting that he was fired from the team for his advocacy for gay rights. Notably, Kluwe claimed that the Special Teams Coach, Mike Priefer, told him “We should round up all the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows.”

The Vikings subsequently launched an independent investigation of the allegations. ESPN and other outlets reported that on Friday, the Vikings released a “summary of the report.” This is actually misleading. What the Vikings released was an analysis produced by the law firm representing the team on employment matters, which included some information from the actual 150-page independent report. (These are lawyers who are paid by the Vikings to limit their legal liability for any employment decisions that team makes.)

Nevertheless, the 29-page analysis reveals that investigators concluded that Preifer did, in fact, make the remark about nuking gays, just as Kluwe alleged. The Vikings announced that Priefer would be suspended for the first three games of this season and the team would donate $100,000 to an LGBT organization.

The Vikings lawyers claims that although Preifer said we should “nuke… all the gays,” he was otherwise completely respectful of LGBT people and those advocating on their behalf. The analysis insist that “[o]ther than Kluwe’s allegations, there is no support in the record that Priefer made any additional statements of this nature.” They rely on current employees of the Vikings, including front-office staff, who claim they never heard Priefer say “anything inappropriate, demeaning, or to make comments about gay individuals.”

[enlightenment]

1. They can

cover that any way they want. It is still a massive failure, ethically and professionally.

The man suggested that an entire subset of the human population should be rounded up and eradicated. It doesn't really get any worse than that, and anyone with a brain and a functioning set of ethical values knows it.

All the Vikings club has done by attempting to suggest that this comment is irrelevant is jump into the same nasty bog that Preifer inhabits.

[gopiscrap]

2. What a fucking asshole

fire this homophobic POS

[BillZBubb]

3. I believe the Vikings and their PR firm. Why would they lie?

Actually, I don't believe a thing they say. If the coach made that "nuke" comment, there's no doubt he's made other similar statements. That level of bigotry doesn't just appear once and go away.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

4. Mwuahah..

'Other than advocating genocide of the group, he was really completely respectful!'

[rocktivity]

5. Well, he WAS being respectful

Surely "nuking 'till you glow" is a quicker, less painful form of genocide than, say, starvation or gas or firing squads!

And it took them only one year and 150 pages to figure it all out...


rocktivity

[TygrBright]

6. "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" n/t

[theHandpuppet]

7. Exactly.

What an ass.