On Monday, outspoken Vikings punter Chris Kluwe parted ways with the Minnesota Vikings as the team announced his release. It seemed like a move that was coming after the team selected UCLA punter Jeff Locke in the fifth-round of the NFL Draft.

“So long, Minnesota, and thanks for all the fish!” Kluwe wrote on Twitter. “Thank you to all the fans, my teammates, and the Wilf family for the past 8.5 years. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything.”

Kluwe ends his Vikings career as the leader in career punting average (44.4 yards per kick). He also had a franchise-best 198 punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

“Chris has meant a great deal to the Vikings both on and off the field in his eight seasons here,” said Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman. “He contributed to many victories and we wish Chris and his family the best and thank him for his contributions to the Vikings organization. Out of respect to Chris, we decided to release him now and allow time for him to sign with another team.”

Kluwe most became known for his outspoken ways, especially in the past year for being an advocate for gay rights. Special teams coach Mike Preifer made it known last season that Kluwe’s outspoken ways was “getting old,” although it’s unclear if it played any role in the release.

On the field, Kluwe, 31, registered a career best 39.7 net average last season, but only ranked 17th in the league.

Jags petition for Tebow
For some reason, Jaguar fans believe President Obama and the White House care about where Tim Tebow signs.

A petition on  Whitehouse.gov asked Obama to “Call NFL Jacksonville Jaguars GM David Caldwell and tell him to stop ignoring the Jaguars fans and sign Tim Tebow! If the Jaguars sign & START Tebow, home games will be sold out, sales will spike, the team will win and the fans will be happy.”

However, WhiteHouse.gov took down the petition on Monday morning because it violated the site’s term of participation, which, I believe, also means, WE HAVE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT.

Other News

• New Texans safety Ed Reed, who had surgery to repair a small labral tear in his hip, should be ready to go for training camp, according to owner Bob McNair (via Houston Chronicle).
• Geno Smith addresses the criticism he has received recently by saying “I don’t worry about what people say — my skin is pretty thick.”
• Tim Tebow was named the most influential athlete in America by Forbes.
• Aaron Rodgers will make a cameo on The Office, where he’ll play a judge in an a capella signing contest.
• Tom Brady reportedly won $25,000 at the Kentucky Derby after betting on Orb to win.

Texas A&M OT Luke Joeckel

With the second pick in the 2013 draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars selected OT Luke Joeckel from Texas A&M.

Joeckel was widely considered to be the top prospect in the draft and was expected to be selected first by the Kansas City Chiefs up until late Thursday afternoon, when it was reported that the Chiefs might go with OT Eric Fisher instead. For more on Joeckel and how he differs from Fisher, check out this excellent article from Kansascity.com.

Ironically, Joeckel will make more money than Fisher because there’s no state income tax in Florida.

While many have been critical of this pick for the Jags, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Mike Silver, the team is “ecstatic” about selecting Joeckel and had him first on their draft board. When KC selected Fisher, the decision was an easy one.

This is the first time since 1986 that offensive lineman have been selected with the first and second picks. First time in NFL draft history that they have both been offensive tackles.

For more on the Jags, visit Roaring Black N’Teal.

Kristine Reese is the NFL editor and lead Jets writer for Aerys Sports. You can follow her on Twitter @KristineReese. 

Rob Gronkowski is a human corn dog. Oh wait…that’s not what this article says? Because it should.

Can I hold that injured arm for you?

In other news, people continue to be crazy on Twitter. And it doesn’t look good for Green Bay Packers TE Jermichael Finley after an ex-girlfriend went tweet-crazy about him being an adulterous “piece of work.” This comes almost directly after Finley pledged to give $500 to a Boston charity for every dropped pass and touchdown this season.

Here’s a sampling of the accusations (you can find the whole thing here). After some exhaustive research, I’ve come to the conclusion that BD stands for baby daddy. There are two sides to every story (although in this case I think there might be as many as five sides!) I’m sure we’ll be hearing plenty more about it in the future.

Remember this?

Well the NFL could be one step closer to having an openly gay player, and I haven’t seen any dangerous rainbows flying around just yet. Openly-gay NFL prospect Alan Gendreau is hoping to snag a tryout with an NFL team after a mostly successful career as a kicker at Middle Tennessee State. You can learn all about him in this NY Times article, and get a detailed account about his thoughts on sexuality and football over at Outsports. Definitely worth the read.

Speaking of rainbows, the Jacksonville Jaguars unveiled their new uniforms and they are BRIGHT! My favorite part is the Jaguar on the helmet that looks like it’s trying to eat every player’s face. (The gloves though are awesome!)

Oh, and let’s not forget about that small thing coming up called the DRAFT! Here’s a little throw-back Wednesday for you to prepare. Now be honest with me. Which is worse: the Jags new jerseys or Favre‘s jean shorts?

There were just so many great tweets this week! Here’s a final one for you about James Harrison‘s move from the Steelers to the Bengals:

Have I mentioned yet that people on Twitter are crazy and I love it? Happy Wednesday!

Emily Ritter is a contributing writer to Aerys Offsides. She tweets at @ebritter2 but is now considering changing her handle to @emilylovely and using the term BD a lot.

Well, as you’re probably aware, the 2012 NFL regular season is over. The playoffs start this weekend and we’ll be crowning a Super Bowl champion in a month. Twelve teams will be playing for the right to hoist the Lombardi trophy. The rest of the league won’t be doing much for the playoffs, therefore that makes them losers. There’s a lot of losers to choose from, but I can only go with five.

1. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-14 record)- Kansas City could easily be in first, but the Jags had a rough patch to close out the season. There’s a lot of questions about where Jacksonville will go for the quarterback position. Maybe they go with Chad Henne, maybe they bring in that Jets quarterback people like talking about so much, who knows! Mike Mularkey will likely stay on as head coach, but general manager Gene Smith was fired Monday. Improving will definitely be a tough task for Jacksonville as they have to deal with a strong Houston team, as well as an improved Colts team. If that’s not enough, even the Titans are getting their act together.

2. Kansas City Chiefs (2-14 record)- Head Coach Romeo Crennel was fired Monday, but it looks like Scott Pioli is safe…at least right now. Maybe the Chiefs bring in Andy Reid, maybe they bring in Kirk Ferentz (or not.) But hey, the Chiefs will get the #1 overall pick in April’s NFL draft. Maybe they can put that pick to good use.

3. Detroit Lions (4-12 record)- The Lions went from being 4-4 in early November to…well 4-12. Everything fell apart for the Lions. Despite the bad season, both Coach Jim Schwartz and General Manager Martin Mayhew will be back for the 2013 season. Of course, one sports editorial from a daily Michigan newspaper in Midland is calling for Schwartz to be ousted. I’d like to think this is Schwartz’s response.

4. Arizona Cardinals (5-11 record)- The Cardinals win the fourth spot because they scored fewer points in the season than the Oakland Raiders. Arizona did clean house Monday when they fired GM Rod Graves and Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt. Arizona is in the Andy Reid sweepstakes, so maybe they can get him. Maybe Reid and Kevin Kolb can reunite and hang out together and stuff.

5. New York Jets (6-10 record)- Gee…I wonder why…Need more be said?

That’s it for this season of the Loser Rankings. Maybe you enjoyed it, maybe not.

Black Monday is upon us and several surprises and not so big surprises took place. Let’s discuss!

* Arizona Cardinals. Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt and general manager Rod Graves are out. With more problems under center than one could fathom, in addition to a plethora of other issues, the firing of this duo is no surprise at all. It will be a breath of fresh air to see what is next for this team!

* Buffalo Bills.  Chan Gailey was let go after three seasons that went nowhere in Buffalo. Case in point, last season’s wonderful start and then collapse and then this season … well, their record ended up 6-10. Need I say more? I’m sure the frustrated fan base is ready for a big change. The status of general manager Buddy Nix is unknown.

* Chicago Bears. Lovie Smith is out. I am a little surprised with this move. But he did only go to the playoffs three times in nine seasons. Unacceptable for this rabid fan base, for certain. General manager Phil Emery took the job last year and will hire his own guy. Should be an interesting off-season in Chicago. Keep up with the team’s moves at Windy City Sweetness!

* Cleveland Browns. Coach Pat Shurmur and GM Tom Heckert.  Gone. No surprise! A 5-11 season. Two rookie sensations in Brandon Weeden and Trent Richardson. So much promise. So much fail. Look for new owner Jimmy Haslam to make some noise this off season! For more on the Browns, check out Dawg Treats!

* Kansas City Chiefs. Coach Romeo Crennel is out. GM Scott Pioli’s status is still in limbo. After a disappointing 2-14 season, moves were bound to be made. Hate to see Crennel out but … it’s safe to say he could use a break after this season and witnessing the suicide of player Javon Belcher.

* Philadelphia Eagles. Andy Reid is out. After 14 seasons as head coach. The only surprise here is that it took this long. Seriously. Expect lots of moves from the Eagles this off season too … including players!

* San Diego Chargers. Yeah, big surprise! Norv Turner and A.J. Smith are out. Again. Expect big moves this off season!

* New York Jets. GM Mike Tannenbaum was let go this morning but Coach Rex Ryan will stay on. Check out Kristine Reese’s story on this move at The Green Room!

* Jacksonville Jaguars. GM Gene Smith is out. Head Coach Mike Mularkey could be next.  For more on the Jags, check out Roaring Black and Teal!

Who is safe? 

* Tennesee Titans coach Mike Munchak. But, personnel executive Mike Reinfeldt is out.

* Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he hasn’t even thought about changing head coaches. So, Jason Garrett is probably safe! He may be asked to make some moves with his assistants though. An offensive coordinator that will help Tony Romo, maybe?

We will update this as more moves are announced today!

Yes! Returns, Wins and Titans aren’t exactly words that have gone together this season. But what a better way to turn it around than the last day of the season!

I guess a few games earlier would have been better. But as the Titans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 38-20,  maybe the Titans will use what I am about to tell you about as a stepping stone for next season!

Yes, it’s that good!

Darius Reynaud

Darius Reynaud scored on two punt returns and rookie linebacker Zach Brown returned two interceptions for touchdowns.

The Titans finished with a 6-10 record and actually won two of their final three games.

We will have to see if this was enough for Bud Adams to save Mike Munchak’s job with the Titans. Or ditch him with two years left on his contract.

After two straight weeks of just going with one loser for the week, we’re back to the list of five.

It is interesting though. Two weeks ago, I picked the Eagles and they won their next game. The same can be said about Arizona, who I picked last week and beat the crap out a team.

Here are the rankings though.

1. Detroit Lions (4-10 record) – A case could be made for either Jacksonville and Kansas City, but the fact is, Detroit hasn’t won since before Election Day. Fact: The Lions are that team that lost to the Cardinals. Another fact: The Lions are one of two teams that hasn’t won a game in the division. If they lose to the Bears next week, they’ll go 0-6 in the division.

2. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-10 record) – The Jags win out because they’ve lost three straight. Jacksonville is coming off a tough loss to Miami and it won’t get better this week when they play a New England team that will probably be seeking to destroy things following the loss to San Francisco.

3. Kansas City Chiefs (2-10 record) – It has been a rough couple of weeks in Kansas City. This past Sunday, they were shutout by the Oakland Raiders. Also, the Raiders didn’t score a touchdown. The Chiefs are the other team that has not won a division game this season. Kansas City gets an Indianapolis team looking to get into the playoffs.

4. San Diego Chargers (5-9 record) – The Chargers … Norv Turner …. Need I say more?

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-8 record) – You wouldn’t think a 6-8 team would be on the list, but they get on there when they lose four straight. The Bucs get the Rams and the Falcons the last two weeks of the season. There is a possibility that this team finishes 6-10.

Follow Romo on Twitter, @Oh_No_Romo

The Dolphins snapped a two-game losing streak and beat their old quarterback Chad Henne in his return to Sun Life Stadium with the Jaguars this Sunday, and reigned victorious, 24-3.

Miami’s new QB, Ryan Tannehill, was 22 of 28 for 220 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also had a pretty sweet 30-yard run down the field at one point, following teammate Reggie Bush’s lead, who rushed for 104 yards on 21 carries. Tannehill ended up rushing for 52 yards himself. Brian Hartline continued to be Tannehill’s go-to receiver, with 77 yards. With this, he surpassed 1,000 yards receiving for the first time.

Photo courtesy of Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Kicker Dan Carpenter continued to put consistent points on the board, kicking three field goals.

The Dolphins defense was sharp, turning back three Jaguar scoring drives. They also got lucky when a Jags touchdown was erased because of an illegal substitution penalty.

This was only the second win in the last seven games, and the half empty stadium reflected the fan’s response. However, Miami is now a more promising 6-8. They face the Bills next Sunday.

The Bills beat out the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars 34-18 on a very rainy day in Buffalo.

Bills TE Scott Chandler celebrates a touchdown

The Bills won for only the third time in eight games, but five consecutive scoring drives led by quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick allowed the Bills to keep their slight playoff hopes alive. Fitzpatrick threw two touchdowns and scored on a one-yard run. The Panthers defense could hardly stop him as he only threw 17 times for 112 yards.

Buffalo was all about the run game, led by Fred Jackson with 101 rushing yards. C.J. Spiller had 77 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown run.

The Bills Mario Williams-led defense racked up two turnovers and four sacks.

Buffalo is now 5-7 and faces the Rams next Sunday.

The Tennessee Titans are still struggling. So much so that they lost Sunday to a Chad Henne led Jacksoville Jaguars squad, by a score of  24-19.

Titans QB Jake Locker is still getting rid of the rust after taking a few weeks to recover from a shoulder injury. Sunday, he went 23 of 40 passing for 261 yards, a touchdown pass to Kenny Britt and a whopping two interceptions. Locker kept the ball five times for 21 yards.

Rob Bironas knocked down four field goals, with his longest from 40 yards out.

The Titans are now 4-7. Next Sunday, the Titans will take on the Houston Texans in Nashville.