Chris Kluwe

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Chris Kluwe
Date of birth	December 24, 1981 (age 25)
Place of birth	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Position(s)	Punter
College	UCLA
Statistics	NFL.com ESPN
Team(s)
2005-current	Minnesota Vikings

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 UCLA alumnus took over the job of 42-year-old veteran Darren Bennett who was released the day Kluwe was picked up.

1 High school
2 College
3 NFL
4 World of Warcraft
5 External links

[edit] High school

Kluwe 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.

[edit] 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.

Varsity Stats at UCLA

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

[edit] NFL

Chris Kluwe was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Seattle Seahawks. He was released by the Seahawks for the final roster cutdown and was picked up the next day by the Vikings. Chris became one of the most surprising pickups for the Vikings, finishing the season with an average of 44.1 yards per punt, ranking second in the NFC and sixth in the league. Minnesota had to call on him 71 times during the season, and Kluwe's ability to pin the opposing team deep down on the other side of the field has helped the Vikings' defense.

During a week 13 game in Detroit, Lions safety Vernon Fox dove towards Kluwe during a punt and collided with his plant foot. Tests showed Kluwe had a sprained ankle and would be out for 1-2 weeks. Kicker Paul Edinger was the punter for the remainder of the game, but a few days later the Vikings signed the 42-year old veteran Darren Bennett temporarily until Kluwe's ankle had healed. Bennett was the Vikings' punter in the 2004 season.