Leave it to Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe to defend the honor of punters and kickers everywhere.
After Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff missed a chance to send the AFC Championship Game into overtime Sunday by veering wide left on a 32-yard field-goal attempt with 11 seconds remaining in regulation, ESPN morning show commentator Skip Bayless went for the easy score on social media.
Tweeting at @RealSkipBayless, he wrote: "Honestly, I felt sorry for Suggs/Ray/EReed. Fought guts out, lost b/c a nonplayer missed easy kick. WHY I HATE FG KICKING. Ban it!"
It was enough to incite Kluwe, who has never been one to shy from — or start — a Twitter war.
Kluwe, tweeting at @ChrisWarcraft, stood up for his special-teams brethren with several tweets aimed at Bayless, including telling him to go "french kiss a flamethrower.”
A day after his Twitter comments, Kluwe remained on the offensive Tuesday in an interview with FOXSportsNorth.com.
"It always amazes me how people like Bayless, who've never done a single athletic thing other than limber up before climbing into the tanning bed, are somehow the arbiters of who is and isn't a professional athlete,” Kluwe said. "If being a kicker or punter is such a ‘nonplayer' position, come take the job, Skip. We'll have tryouts, it'll be fun!”
Bayless hasn't responded directly to Kluwe, though the punter said he didn't expect a response. Stereotypes don't fit Kluwe — he has become the Vikings' career leader in most punting categories in seven seasons — so his disdain for Bayless' comments isn't shocking.
Off the field, Kluwe is an active gamer. He plays "World of Warcraft" and is an ace at "Guitar Hero." He also plays bass guitar for the Twin Cities band, Tripping Icarus.
Perhaps his offbeat personality is the reason he's troubled by misconceptions, such as the ones Bayless tweeted, about punters and kickers.
"It bothers me when people say things like that because it feeds into a lot of the ignorance and negativity surrounding sports,” Kluwe said. "Rather than take his time and research why Cundiff might have missed the kick, Bayless throws out some half-assed comment whose only purpose is to draw ratings through shock value, while at the same time demeaning someone who's already feeling pretty crappy.
"Sure, Billy didn't do his job in that situation, but neither did Skip. That's not sports journalism . . . ”
Kluwe said he has received support from his Twitter followers after his comments, which included this initial jab at Bayless: "Hey (expletive). Let's not forget you haven't done a single athletic thing in your life. Go french kiss a flamethrower."
Kluwe followed shortly after with: "I know what we should ban! Uninformed opinions from (expletive) e-thugs who tear people down to try to generate ratings!"
Bayless did try to support his opinion about kickers being "nonplayers" and how field-goal kicking shouldn't decide games, tweeting: "I don't hate kickers, just FG kicking. Silly, gimmicky way to decide games. Gifted warriors battle for 59:30 then nonplayer wins or loses?!"
Kluwe said he knows Bayless' likely intention is to draw attention to himself and his show and pointed that out after Bayless' defense, tweeting this: "Now it's just blatantly obvious that @RealSkipBayless is trolling. C'mon man. At least TRY to be subtle. #thatwouldrequireintelligence"
And then this: "I mean, how much (expletive) do you have to gargle to be that bad at your job @RealSkipBayless? #thatshowyoutrollsomeone, #icandothisallday"
Kluwe said Tuesday he would relish the chance to debate the topic on Bayless' show but doesn't believe he will ever get the chance.
"I'm 100 percent confident they would cut the feed after the first three minutes,” he said. "Bayless isn't the only person who can talk trash about people, and if he invites me on he'll find out just how much fun I have ripping on idiot trolls like himself.
"For those unfamiliar with Internet lingo, a ‘troll' is someone that says deliberately provocative and indefensible statements in order to get a rise out of others. A good troll is subtle with their barbs and can draw out the conversation for a while. A bad one, like Skip, just says something idiotic right away.”
Kluwe is aware of the wide reach of social media, and this isn't the first time he has been willing to dip into controversial topics for everyone to see. But he knows he has to be careful, adding words of caution for Bayless.
"I really enjoy the accessibility of Twitter, but it's definitely a double-edged sword,” Kluwe said. "You always have to make sure the message you're putting out is the message you want people to see, which is something Skip should keep in mind. Crap journalism and shoddy reporting will only amuse the people at ESPN for so long, and like all of us in football, I hope he has a backup plan.”
