Why the NFL's Chris Kluwe will always be @ChrisWarcraft on Twitter

It's been a big week or two for Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe. Beyond his resolute focus on the field, the former WoW player has been juggling an avalanche of media interviews after lighting up the internet with a ferociously profane tongue-lashing on equality and gay marriage. When a Maryland legislator tried to tighten the screws on Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo's support for marriage equality, Kluwe unleashed a tirade on sports blog Deadspin that quickly went viral.

"Your vitriolic hatred and bigotry make me ashamed and disgusted to think that you are in any way responsible for shaping policy at any level," Kluwe wrote. "I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life. They won't come into your house and steal your children ...They won't even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population."

While we couldn't actually print the Kluwe's most choice quotes on a safe-for-work site like WoW Insider, Kluwe most assuredly made his point. The Maryland delegate backed off, and Kluwe's been snowed under with interviews. One of those interviews was with yours truly at Tecca -- and we concluded our discussion with an email conversation about that other thing you've all been waiting to hear about: his love of gaming and history with World of Warcraft.

WoW Insider: All right, Mr. Kluwe -- or rather, Loate. Let's get down to some conversation for WoW Insider and start off with the obvious update: You haven't played World of Warcraft in quite some time now, isn't that right?

Chris Kluwe: The high point was probably Burning Crusade, when the guild I was in (The Flying Hellfish) got a U.S. 3rd kill on Illidan. Raiding was a lot of fun, but after Cataclysm I got kind of bored and stopped playing (I learned how to not stand in fire in BC :) ). I definitely enjoyed the time I played though, from vanilla all the way through Cataclysm.

Any interest at all in Mists of Pandaria? Do any of the changes or does any of the new content hit any hot buttons for you?

I'm fairly confident I read that the new panda racial ability is called "Jumping the Shark." Nothing I've seen from Pandaria really does a lot for me, but I'm sure it'll be exciting for a lot of people and I wish them the best. :)

At any rate, we've heard you're a big fan of other Blizzard games too.

I've played every Blizzard game to be released, including The Lost Vikings and Rock n' Roll Racing (which definitely needs a comeback; that game was amazing).

You told Wowhead last year that most of the other pro athletes you know who game prefer other genres to MMOs. Now, Kyle Davies over at the Kansas City Royals plays - but we can understand where you're coming with as far as a time crunch goes. What do most of your gaming teammates enjoy?

Most guys enjoy Madden, CoD, God of War, Assassin's Creed -- generally the AAA mainstream titles. There's a couple that are into RTSs or RPGs, but it's not a lot.

And what about you? What are you playing these days?

Guild Wars 2, Darksiders 2, and Sleeping Dogs are my poison of choice right now. However, once Borderlands 2 hits, you may not hear from me for several months.

Let's face it, you've got plenty else on your plate -- like playing in a band. How do you keep that rolling? Is it a seasonal thing?

Unfortunately it's become a seasonal thing, as my wife and I have our permanent residence in California now (both our parents live there) and the other band members are local Minnesota guys. We'd like to tour but it's impossible during the football season, and I'd like to spend some time with my family during the off season. Maybe once I'm done playing football we can really hit the road.

And what else might we find Chris Kluwe doing when he's not on the field?

Reading books, playing tabletop miniatures (Warhammer 40k and Warmachine), walking the dogs, rabblerousing -- the usual.

Yet World of Warcraft obviously has a place in your heart. After all, the name staring out from Twitter to your more than 100,000 followers is @ChrisWarcraft. Was that your original Twitter handle? Have you considered an update, a fresh perspective on Chris Kluwe?

@ChrisWarcraft was my original Twitter handle and it will probably always be my handle; video games have always been a huge part of my life and it reflects a lot of my character -- I like to have fun. :)

"I never thought of playing

WoW like that!" -- and neither did we, until we talked with Game of Thrones' Hodor (Kristian Nairn) ... a blind ex-serviceman and the guildmates who keep him raiding as a regular ... and a 70-year-old grandma who tops her raid's DPS charts as its legendary-wielding GM. Send your nominations to lisa@wowinsider.com.