Chris Kluwe
Christopher James Kluwe, born December 24, 1981 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an NFL Punter. The Minnesota Vikings claimed him in 2005 off waivers from Seattle. The rookie from UCLA is taking over the job of 42 year old veteran Darren Bennett who was released the day Kluwe was picked up.
NFL
Chris has been one of the most surprising pickups for the Vikings this season, with the league's third best average of 47.6 yards per punt. Minnesota has had to call on him 23 times so far, which is more than it should be, but the Vikings lackluster offense this season has gotten Kluwe plenty of playing time on special teams.
College
Chris developed into one of the top punters in the Pac-10 playing for UCLA. He used his strong leg to break two school records (Punt Yardage and Number of Punts in a season). In his senior year, he ranked 4th in the Pac-10 and 26th in the NCAA in Yards per Punt (42.9). In 2004 he punted 10 times against Illinois, one shy of the school single game record, and averaged 37.9 yards with three kicks inside the 20-yard line. He was selected Special Teams Player of the Game in the Silicon Valley Football Classic against Fresno State after averaging 44.3 yards on nine kicks and he tied the bowl record with his nine punts and placed three kicks inside the 20-yard line.
| Year | Punts | Yards | Average | In 20 | Long |
| 2001 | 1 | 25 | 25.0 | 0 | 25 |
| 2002 | 1 | 44 | 44.0 | 0 | 44 |
| 2003 | 91 | 3908 | 42.9 | 19 | 66 |
| Totals | 93 | 3977 | 42.8 | 19 | 66 |
High School
Played three years of varsity football for coach John Barnes at Los Alamitos High School in Los Alamitos, CA and was selected to play in both the California / Texas Shrine game and the CaliFlorida Bowl. He also made the USA Today first-team All-American as a punter. Once he kicked an Orange County and CIF Playoff record 60-yard field goal vs. Loyola to force overtime in an eventual 30-23 victory. Averaged 46.6 yards as a punter, had 10 punts of at least 60 yards and placed six kicks inside the 10-yard line. As a place kicker, he made 16 of 22 field goal attempts and 39 of 41 PATs. Prior to his senior year, he won the punting competition at the National Kicking Invitational with a 63-yard punt that had 4.98 hang time. As a junior, he averaged 44.8 yards per punt, 25 of his 27 punts were either fair catches or returned for fewer than five yards, 16 punts were downed inside the 20 yard-line and eight punts pinned the opposition inside the 10 yard-line. Also played a year of baseball as a pitcher for coach Rob Wigod.
External links
- Chris Kluwe at ESPN.com
- Chris Kluwe at NFL.com