Vikings Will Release Summary of Mike Priefer Report, Suspend Priefer
By Dan Zinski
Chris Kluwe continues to dominate the news cycle with a lot of help from the Vikings who still reportedly refuse to fully release the report that resulted from the investigation into Kluwe’s accusations against special teams coach Mike Priefer.
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But more on Kluwe later. First, a bit of breaking news on Priefer himself. It appears a suspension is in the offing for Priefer as punishment for the actions that irked Kluwe and brought about the investigation.
Chris Thomasson of the Pioneer-Press reports:
Chris Kluwe's lawyer, Clayton Halunen, told me Vikings have told him Mike Priefer will be suspended Doesn't know how many games but short.
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) July 18, 2014
Halunen thinks the suspension will be for maybe one or two games, per Thomasson. Thomasson learned that, as one of his settlement demands, Kluwe wanted the Vikings to suspend Priefer for 4-8 games and order him to undergo sensitivity training.
Kluwe also demanded a $1 million donation to gay-and-lesbian charities from the Vikings, whose counter-offer was a $100,000 donation.
Thomasson also learned from Halunen that the Vikings plan to release a summary of the report they have thus far refused to make public. But not the whole report.
Kluwe lawyer Clayton Halunen on Kluwe report Vikings will release: “They’re going to remove anything unattractive to them.’’
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) July 18, 2014
So to sum up: The Vikings refused to meet Chris Kluwe’s demands for a long suspension, a charitable donation and full disclosure. Instead they will give Priefer a slap on the wrist, give no money to charity and release a partial report.
And Chris Kluwe is perfectly fine with this and will now go on his merry way.
Or not.
No, Kluwe says after his less-than-fruitful meeting with the Vikings he plans to push forward with his lawsuit. He said he expects the suit to be filed early next week. Kluwe reportedly will seek in excess of $10 million in damages from the Vikings.
Clayton Halunen said Chris Kluwe will sue for the works. Defamation of character. Emotional distress etc. Said lawsuit to be filed next week
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) July 18, 2014
The Vikings obviously would rather deal with this in court than bow to Kluwe’s demands and let their dirty laundry be aired in public. The wide perception will be that the Vikings are trying to hide some ugly stuff.
Since Mike Priefer himself isn’t worth this much trouble, we have to assume there are others in the organization, higher up on the food chain, who also come off looking pretty bad in the report.
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