The Minnesota Vikings can cut any player for performance or budget reasons, but they can't allow homophobic rants by their coaches

I met Chris Kluwe a few months ago and we had a wide ranging conversation about Vince Lombardi's gay brother, homophobia in sports, and how the world is changing for the LGBT in the locker room. Despite his penchant for funny one liners and over-the-top phrases, like 'lustful cockmonster', he seemed like a thoughtful guy with a lot of integrity. (Check out the above interview with Stephen Colbert for a sense of Chris.)

So when he claims that his former Vikings coach that made a wildly homophobic statement, I take note.  Chris Kluwe:

Near the end of November, several teammates and I were walking into a specialist meeting with Coach Priefer. We were laughing over one of the recent articles I had written supporting same-sex marriage rights, and one of my teammates made a joking remark about me leading the Pride parade. As we sat down in our chairs, Mike Priefer, in one of the meanest voices I can ever recall hearing, said: "We should round up all the gays, send them to an island, and then nuke it until it glows." The room grew intensely quiet, and none of the players said a word for the rest of the meeting. The atmosphere was decidedly tense. I had never had an interaction that hostile with any of my teammates on this issue—some didn't agree with me, but our conversations were always civil and respectful. Afterward, several told me that what Mike Priefer had said was "messed up."

I am glad that the Vikings have hired a respected investigator to determine if these allegations are true. Also, I can understand the Vikings might fire Chris for performance and budgetary reasons, namely that finding a cheaper player with nearly the same performance stats. But if the Vikings are firing Chris for homophobic reasons, they should pay a high price in the court of public opinion.

Chris is also welcoming this investigation:

 "I'm glad they're taking it seriously. This is something I wrote down, because it's what happened to me, and I'm 100 percent confident in what I wrote, and there are witnesses that will back me up. Let the investigation begin." - Chris Kluwe, telling USA Today that he intends to cooperate with the Vikings' investigation to be conducted by the former chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.

By the way, the apple usually doesn't fall from the tree.  Here is the alleged statement by Coach Priefer, followed by recent tweets by his son.  Sounds like Junior did not grow up in a household that respects gay people.