Not only was Vikings punter Chris Kluwe a rockstar on the field on Sunday–putting four of his five punts inside the 20–he’s a rockstar off the field, literally.
It started with video games in about 2006, picking up Guitar Hero; two years later, he’s playing the game at an expert level and has honed his mad skillz to the point where he’s one of the top 100 players in the world. Tellingly, he’s @ChrisWarcraft on Twitter.
Running back Ryan Moats, who was signed in the offseason but didn’t make the final cut on the Vikings roster, interned at Electronic Arts and advised them on Madden 11, so you gotta know Kluwe was all over that.
The virtual guitar, though, apparently was not challenging enough for Kluwe because he decided to learn the real guitar and that, in turn, has lead him to bass guitar, which has lead him to his latest pursuit, Tripping Icarus, his band.
That’s right, Chris Kluwe is in a band.
Icarus was the son of Daedalus in Greek mythology, a master craftsman who constructed wings for he and his son out of feathers and wax in order to escape from Crete. Icarus, however, ignored his father’s instructions not to fly too close to the sun and the wax on his feathers melted, causing him to fall to the sea in the area that bears his name, the Icarian Sea.
It’s your guess as to why Kluwe wants to trip Icarus.
His guitarist is Andrew Reiner, the executive editor of Minneapolis-based Game Informer, one of the most popular video game magazines. Tripping Icarus is sort of grunge metal. [WATCH TRIPPING ICARUS.]
NO RESPECT
Considering his rockstar status, you’d think the dude would get a little respect from the Vikings photographer, but no. When you look at the photos section of Vikings.com, you’ll notice a glaring absence of Chris Kluwe pictures.
SPEED KILLS
You’ve noticed that Adrian Peterson has got his breakaway speed back? That’s the result of an off-season focus on “speed training, running 60-, 100-, 200- and 400-meter sets on a track,” according to Pioneer Press reporter Jeremy Fowler.
THROWBACK THURSDAY
Throwback Thursday features footage from the Vikings 1995 season with Warren Moon at quarterback, Robert Smith carrying the rock, and Cris Carter, Jake Reed and Quadry Ismail as your three wides. [WATCH.]