Call me naive

I had this chat on the Twitter machine with Dave Zirin the other day about the recent releases of Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo.

@LastHonestSport @EdgeofSports In case I missed it, do you think @brendon310 and @ChrisWarcraft were cut for their political outspokenness? 

@EdgeofSports @LastHonestSport @brendon310 @ChrisWarcraft Not entirely, but utterly naive to not think it was a factor.

@LastHonestSport @EdgeofSports Do you think it was the general outspokenness, the particular topic or that their arguments are more liberal?

@EdgeofSports @LastHonestSport yes

It's the easiest line in the world to draw -- player is outspoken advocate on divisive issue (gay rights) ... player gets cut ... player must have been cut for that reason. It's not like Zirin is the only one who sees it a possibly more than a coincidence. Even Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton thinks so.

"I just think sports officials ought to be honest about what the heck is going on, same way I think public officials should be honest about what's going on, so that bothers me probably as much, if not more, than the actual decision," Dayton said.

The thinking may even have the added advantage of being true, but ... and I say this as someone who thinks Kluwe and Ayanbadejo should have been Sports Illustrated's Sportsmen of the Year last year ...

... how do we know?

First, let me state the obvious. Forget about supporting gay rights; Adrian Peterson or Joe Flacco could check every box on the gay stereotype list so much that the ghost of Liberace says, "Dude, ease up," and they'd still be gainfully employed.

But that actually sort of proves my point. For instance, Kevin Seifert of ESPN, who does think that Kluwe's advocacy, if it didn't outright get him cut, didn't help him, pointed out that he didn't have a particularly good year, is over 30 and would cost a lot more money than his likely replacement, rookie Jeff Locke.

As for Ayanbadejo, even he said he was cut because he was a 36-year-old special-teams player and there are younger, less-expensive players who do what he does (after an initial report implied he may think otherwise), and he acknowledged that the Ravens have always supported him.

In other words, Kluwe and Ayanbadejo are in that vast class of players who are good enough to be on teams, but can easily be replaced by someone younger and cheaper who does the same thing. It's the same thing that could work against Jason Collins in free agency.

Could a team hold Kluwe's or Ayanbadejo's politics or Collins' homosexuality against them while hiding behind age, salary or production? Of course they could. But unless someone in an organization comes right out and says it, or gives a damn good indication of it, it may be impossible to know.

Call me naive.