Skol, settlement!

I had heard rumors over the weekend that this had come to fruition. On Tuesday, it was made official.

Calling his settlement with the Minnesota Vikings an opportunity "to do a lot of good for a lot of people," Chris Kluwe announced his fight with the team is over.

The Vikings and Kluwe's attorney Clayton Halunen announced Tuesday morning that they had reached a settlement to resolve the former punter's allegations of homophobic behavior by the team. It put the issue to rest 7½ months after Kluwe first published his allegations and avoids the prospect of a lengthy legal battle.

The Vikings had initially announced a $100,000 contribution to charities that support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender causes, and they will make additional contributions to five LGBT-friendly charities over the next five years. The team will also enhance sensitivity training that is already required throughout the organization.

The parties did not announce the financial terms of the settlement, but Kluwe said he will not receive any money.

Indeed, Kluwe did confirm in a tweet that very thing.

Also, I get exactly ZERO dollars from this settlement, so if you sent me a nasty message over the past months, go mainline bleach.
— Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) August 19, 2014

I never believed that Kluwe was in this for the money. In fact, I believe he sought (and thus received) something way more valuable to him than money: that is, people incessantly fawning over him and doing the rhetorical kneeling to touch the hem of his proverbial garment. Now that judges across the country are pretty much striking down every state law defining marriage as between one woman and one man combined with Kluwe being persona non grata on an NFL field, the former Vikes punter is largely irrelevant. But this high profile haggling with the Vikings organization at least buys him another few years in the spotlight as these LGBT charities receive money due to Kluwe's efforts.

There was one aspect of this saga though which had me thinking. Why did Kluwe dig in his heels last month as if he were getting ready for a nasty lawsuit but then relent shortly thereafter?

One of the allegations Kluwe made when ripping the Vikings in his Deadspin piece earlier this year was that he was released due to his advocacy for same-sex marriage. Then last month, when he and his attorney felt the Vikings weren't acting in good faith when releasing merely a summary of their internal investigation of said allegations, Kluwe threatened to expose additional scandals, including the organization allegedly covering up incidents where players were engaged in illegal conduct. It seems to me Kluwe really could have made some hay had he gone forth with a full blown lawsuit. Again, what stopped him? My theory is Kluwe was exposed to be just as insensitive as special teams coach Mike Priefer when it was revealed he mocked the victims of pedophile Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn St. assistant coach. Once Kluwe was knocked off his proverbial high horse (not to mention being perceived as a bitter hypocrite), he decided to once again continue negotiating an out-of-court settlement instead of having his own skeletons be revealed. It could also mean that not going with a wrongful termination suit is Kluwe's way of acknowledging that he sucked as a punter in 2012.

Whatever the case, I'm just glad this is over. I'm even more ecstatic that I may never have to mention Kluwe's name on this blog or on my radio show ever again.

------------------------------------------------