Oakland Raiders punter Chris Kluwe is one of the most interesting players in the NFL and he took to training camp in Napa with the Raiders to show off some technology and how it looks through his eyes, as he showed off some punting drills in a video on YouTube using Google Glass technology, giving it a first person perspective.
The video was posted on YouTube and is 23 minutes long and shows Kluwe booting some punts and working out doing drills while at training camp. Kluwe is active online and with interacting with fans and now he has done it again with the video and he said he did it to show to fans what it is like to punt from his perspective and to give them a look at the field. Kluwe is with the Raiders after being released by the Vikings, likely because of his outspoken nature, although the team would never admit that.
Kluwe is competing with Marquette King for the starting job and while he has the advantage in experience, King likely has the stronger leg. Kluwe was released after playing 127 games with the Vikings and after putting up a 44.4-yard career average. He is back home in Cali, as he went to school at UCLA and went to high school in SoCal and after ranking 22nd in average yards per punt last season, he is ready to improve.
Kluwe takes over from future Hall of Famer (maybe) Shane Lechler, who left the Raiders to sign with the Texans. Lechler left for the Texans after spending 13 seasons with the Raiders and now McKenzie will have to decide on who will punt. The Raiders have made a number of improvements this past offseason and are expected to do better than the 4-12 record they had last season. The team added Tracy Porter, Charles Woodson, DJ Hayden, Kevin Burnett, Nick Roach and more on defense and also brought in Matt Flynn to take over as quarterback from Carson Palmer.
Kluwe is more solid than powerful and he had the 17th best net average in the league last season and finished 31st in the league with 18 punts inside the 20. Although the stats aren't jumping out like crazy, punting is a tough job and the Raiders may decide to stick with the more experienced player as they head into a very important transition season in the franchise. Obviously that choice isn't as hard as the one for quarterback with Matt Flynn and Tyler Wilson, but it could add up to more wins depending on which way it plays out.
Kluwe also made headlines this year while on Conan after making a Aaron Hernandez joke on television while discussing his book "Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies," and after speaking about gay rights and the decisions, Conan O'Brien asked about his outspokenness and if the NFL ever came after him. Kluwe responded with the joke, "They pretty much left me alone," Kluwe said. "As long as you're not out shooting people . . . ." Conan added after: "It is like you you've got a pretty easy bar to clear there," O'Brien said.
