NFL teams
Ben Goessling, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Chris Kluwe, Vikes to continue talks

NFL, Minnesota Vikings

MINNEAPOLIS -- The attorney for former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe said he won't file suit against the team for now, after conversations with a Vikings attorney re-opened the door for settlement discussions.

Clayton Halunen, Kluwe's attorney, said in an email on Wednesday afternoon that he had talked with Vikings attorney Joe Anthony, and that both agreed to recommend continued discussions to their clients.

"We will not be taking any action pending the completion of those discussions," Halunen wrote. He later said "we would expect to know where things are at within the next few weeks," adding the Vikings have agreed to continue discussions.

Halunen had said he planned to file suit against the team on Wednesday, after it declined to release the full report from a six-month independent investigation of Kluwe's allegations that he was subjected to homophobic remarks from special teams coordinator Mike Priefer and was eventually released for his support of same-sex marriage.

The team commissioned the law firm of Littler Mendelson to review the report and produce a 29-page summary of the findings, which was released on Friday evening. Kluwe and Halunen criticized the report almost immediately, saying it contained inaccuracies and calling it a "scrubbed version" of the report designed to position the team for possible litigation.

Halunen offered the Vikings a set of non-negotiable settlement terms last Thursday, asking the team to suspend Priefer for four to eight games, donate $1 million to LGBT-friendly charities and release the full report. The Vikings, Halunen said, informed him last Friday afternoon they would not agree to the terms; the team instead decided to donate $100,000 to charity, suspend Priefer for two to three games and release the 29-page summary.

The summary confirmed Kluwe's allegation of one homophobic remark from Priefer, who admitted the statement to investigators after denying it in his first meeting with them, but did not support Kluwe's allegations that Priefer had made multiple homophobic statements or that the Vikings had released the punter because of his activism.

Now, it appears, a settlement could once again be a possibility. Halunen said on Wednesday that the release of the full report would be part of the discussions; Kluwe had started a petition for the full release of the report on Change.org that had 29,000 digital signatures as of Wednesday afternoon.

Said Vikings spokesperson Jeff Anderson on the negotiations: "Yesterday, Clayton Halunen contacted a Vikings attorney to request that the two sides engage in conversation. We believe that we have comprehensively investigated Halunen's client Chris Kluwe's claims that were put forth in the January 2, 2014, Deadspin article and have taken the appropriate action to ensure that we continue to have a workplace environment that respects tolerance, diversity, and inclusion.

"We are willing to listen to Mr. Halunen's continued concerns but will have no further comment in the interim."

Kluwe, who was cut by the Raiders in training camp last year, said in a Wednesday appearance on "Listen Closely with Linda Cohn" he believes his allegations will lead to the end of his NFL career.

"I think this is something that has ensured that I will never play in the NFL again. And I'm okay with that," Kluwe said. "Because at the end of the day, human rights is much more important to me than a children's game. If there's nothing else that people take from this, it's that there are some things more important in life."

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