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Chris Kluwe, the former NFL punter who garnered national attention this month for his protest against a plaque at the Huntington Beach Central Library with a MAGA reference, said Thursday he had been fired from his coaching job at Edison High School.Kluwe, a former punter for the Minnesota Vikings, had coached freshman football for five years at Edison, part of the Huntington Beach Union High School District. He said he was called into a meeting on Thursday, Feb.
27, with Edison’s athletic director and the assistant principal of supervision, “And they said ...
based on what’s going on we just feel it’s too much attention and we have to let you go.”Kluwe said he was offered the chance to resign, but he told them no “because I wanted people to see what MAGA actually means for a community and that this will not make our community better, it’s taking away a resource from the kids.”School officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kluwe was detained by police officers after he took a few steps toward the City Council dais following his public comment at the Feb. 18 Huntington Beach council meeting. During his address to the council, he argued a plaque to be installed at the Central Library with a MAGA acrostic is “propaganda” and the MAGA, or Make America Great Again, movement spurred by President Donald Trump “stands for hate, and fear, and the idea that we should have a king instead of co-equal branches of government.
”Police arrested him for disrupting an assembly.Kluwe said he believes a coordinated campaign reached out to the school to push for his dismissal, adding that the school made a “cowardly decision” to bow to pressure.He said it’s a loss for the students because he was a coach with NFL experience.
Kluwe said he expected to be back next year coaching special teams.A longtime resident of Huntington Beach, Kluwe grew up in Seal Beach and attended Los Alamitos High School. He played as a punter with the Minnesota Vikings for eight years.
He’s had a long history of activism on various issues and was a vocal supporter of marriage equality during his NFL tenure, before same-sex marriage was legalized throughout the U.S.Related ArticlesLocal News | Orange County football transfer tracker: Santa Margarita defensive lineman enrolls at JSerra, Feb, 25Local News | Three standout linemen join Santa Margarita’s football teamLocal News | Servite football adds transfers Kale Murphy of Mission Viejo, Benjamin Harris of Long Beach PolyLocal News | Sebastien Boydell extends Corona del Mar’s tight end legacy, signs with Fresno StateLocal News | Northwood football’s Joseph Harper signs with Army to further his development.
