Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe fired from coaching job after protest arrest

Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe said he was fired as a football coach at Edison High School in Huntington Beach, Calif. after his anti-MAGA protest led to his arrest last Tuesday.

Kluwe, 43, was arrested and carried out of a Huntington Beach City Council meeting by local police after stepping from behind a lectern during the public comment portion of the meeting and approaching the councilmembers’ dais. He had been a paid member of the freshman football team’s coaching staff at Edison since 2018 or 2019.

“First thing Ed said was, ‘Hey, the school’s just getting too much attention and we’re going to have to let you go’ so essentially they fired me,” Kluwe told USA Today. “They did give me the offer to resign, but I told them that they would have to fire me because I wanted this community to know that this is what MAGA does.

“They take away resources from the community to make themselves feel better. I don’t know where Edison’s going to find another former professional football player to coach freshman football.”

Chris Kluwe arrested, carried out of Huntington Beach council meeting

Kluwe was protesting a proposed plaque celebrating the 50th anniversary of a local library that reportedly prominently featured the MAGA acronym on it. During a prepared statement, Kluwe referred to MAGA, President Donald Trump‘s slogan, as “explicitly a Nazi movement.”

Upon concluding his public comments, Kluwe said he’d “engage in the time-honored American tradition of peaceful civil disobedience” and stepped toward the dais where the councilmembers were seated, prompting Hunting Beach police officers to swarm him, tackle him to the ground, put him in handcuffs and carry him out of the council chambers.

Kluwe described the Thursday meeting between Edison’s athletic director, Rich Boyce and vice principal of supervision, Ed Begany as “cordial.”

“I’m not going to scream and yell, but yeah, basically them saying that they had gotten messages of both against me as well as supporting me,” Kluwe said. “Didn’t give me any reason [for being fired] other than the school was getting too much attention.”

Kluwe played nine seasons in the NFL from 2005-13, appearing in 127 games with the Minnesota Vikings during that span. Kluwe went undrafted out of UCLA in 2005 and signed with the Seattle Seahawks before being released and landing in Minnesota. He was also a member of the Oakland Raiders’ practice squad in 2013 before ultimately retiring from football.

On3’s Alex Byington contributed to this article.