ST PAUL, MINNESOTA – On Friday, Minnesota Viking player Chris Kluwe sent an open letter to a Maryland state lawmaker accusing him of misusing the power of his office for attacking a Baltimore Ravens linebacker who supports gay marriage.

Wrote punter Chris Klume to Maryland state delegate Emmett Burns, Jr.: “I find it inconceivable that you are an elected official of Maryland’s state government. 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.”

Burns earned Klume’s disdain after the lawmaker sent a letter to Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, demanding that he discipline linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo for his comments in support of marriage equality.

Burns, who opposes same-sex marriage, enjoined Bisciotti to “inhibit such expressions from your employee.”

“I can’t even begin to fathom the cognitive dissonance that must be coursing through your rapidly addled mind right now, the mental gymnastics your brain has to tortuously contort itself through to make such a preposterous statement are surely worthy of an Olympic gold medal,” Kluwe wrote to Burns.

“I’ve also been vocal as hell about the issue of gay marriage,” Klume added, “so you can take your ‘I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing,’ and shove it in your close minded, totally lacking in empathy pie hole, and choke on it.”