Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, who was recently arrested after protesting at a city council meeting in Huntington Beach, Calif., said on social media Thursday that he was fired from his job as a high school football coach.
Kluwe was arrested on Feb. 18 after taking the podium at a Huntington Beach City Council meeting to protest its decision to display a commemorative plaque at a public library meant to be an ode to President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again," or MAGA, slogan. It uses the words "Magical, Alluring, Galvanizing and Adventurous" to spell out MAGA.
Kluwe was critical of the MAGA movement, going as far as calling it a "Nazi movement," before announcing his intention to engage in civil disobedience. He walked on to the meeting's stage and was swiftly arrested and escorted out by police.
Now Kluwe says the protest has cost him his job at the local Edison High School. He told the Star Tribune that he had been a freshman football coach at the school for about five years, and that school officials informed him on Thursday his protest had been giving them too much attention and they had to let him go. He expressed frustration on social media.
"Just got fired from being a freshman football coach, if you want to know what MAGA does to communities," Kluwe said Thursday on the platform Bluesky. "They don't care about what helps people because the school is certainly not going to find an ex-NFL player willing to coach there at that level, they only care about trying to hurt people."
Kluwe told the Guardian he was aware losing his job was a possible consequence of his actions, but that he wasn't given a reason for his firing aside from bringing negative attention to the school. He told the Star Tribune he previously never had any issues at the school; he is exploring his options about whether to fight his firing and is in discussions with the ACLU.
Kluwe played for the Vikings from 2005-12 and suited up in 127 games in his eight NFL seasons. He was an outspoken advocate for social issues during his time in Minnesota, which he believed ruffled some feathers. Kluwe claimed he was released by the Vikings over his support for same-sex marriage, and after his retirement, Kluwe said in an interview with USA TODAY he believed he wasn't given another NFL opportunity because of his outspoken stances on social issues.
