Chris Kluwe may be best remembered, especially in Minnesota, for playing football with the Vikings (and the Seahawks and Raiders), but that is far from the only game in his life. Known on Bluesky and some predecessor websites as @ChrisWarcraft, he enjoys video games, card games, tabletop games, and soccer games. In addition, he was a founding member of the band Tripping Icarus, and he famously demonstrated the intersection of these skills on Minnesota radio station 93X, playing Guitar Hero.
His football career involved setting records during his college years at UCLA and with the Minnesota Vikings; he holds so many team records with the latter that putting them in a list would take up half the page. His time in the NFL ended not that long after he made his support for marriage equality clear—a remarkably controversial position in 2012—including a viral open letter to a Maryland representative and an amicus brief with fellow NFL player Brendon Ayanbadejo to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Perry v. Hollingsworth (Prop 8 in California).
In addition to the open letter, Chris started writing for media outlets such as Deadspin. In 2013, he published Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies, an essay collection showcasing his humor and breadth of interests, including marriage equality, time travel, and the Pope’s Twitter account.
Since his NFL retirement in 2014, he’s published two other books: Prime: a Genesis Series Event with Andrew Reiner (2015), and Otaku (2020). He’s also released a tabletop game called Twilight of the Gods (2017). A weapon he created, the Poet’s Pen Carved Wand, appeared in the game Path of Exile. In the game XCOM: Enemy Within, there is a Sniper-class character named after him. He also has continued his interest in politics, commenting frequently on current events as well as the intersection of politics and sports.
He lives in California with his family, where he is currently attempting to match John Lewis’s civil-disobedience arrest record. He is frequently found complaining about college and NFL punting on social media.
You can follow Chris Kluwe on Instagram as @chriskluwe and Bluesky as @chriswarcraft.bsky.social.
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