Oct 19th 2008 2:50PM by JJ Cooper (author feed)
Filed under: Bears, Vikings, NFC NorthChris Kluwe has many talents. He’s an excellent Guitar Hero player, and apparently a pretty good World of Warcraft player as well.

But when it comes to punting, which is his day job, Kluwe has done a lot recently to piss off his coach. A couple of weeks ago he failed to punt the ball away from Reggie Bush on a night where Bush returned two punts for touchdowns and almost returned a third, head coach Brad Childress got into a screaming match with him on the sideline, then publicly called him out after the game.

Now Kluwe’s managed to make failing to punt out of bounds just the second-worst thing he’s done as a punter this year. In the first half against the Bears, Kluwe managed to drop a snap that hit him in the hands. He then scooped it up, fumbled it when hit as he tried to punt it, and the Bears recovered for a touchdown.

When he’s not failing to punt out of bounds or dropping the ball, he’s actually a very good punter — which is why the Vikings signed him a six-year extension during the offseason. But Childress and Kluwe have had their run-ins, and just two weeks ago the Vikings worked out punters to try to light a fire under Kluwe, so it wouldn’t be out of the question that Childress would decide he’s tired of his punter.

Kluwe isn’t the only Vikings special-teamer to blow it today. Punt returner Charles Gordon accidentally ran into a bouncing punt that the Bears fell on in the end zone, which explains how the Vikings trail 27-24 at the half in a game where they have out-gained the Bears by nearly 100 yards.