Chris Kluwe was among friends last December when he was honored as a member of the Vikings’ All-Metrodome team. During his visit to the Twin Cities, he chatted amicably with a number of former teammates.

Shortly after that, everything changed. On Jan. 2, Deadspin.com published a first-person article by the former punter in which he accused the Vikings of releasing him in May 2013 because of his outspoken views on same-sex marriage and special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer of making homophobic comments during the 2012 season.

“They’re not returning my calls,” Kluwe said about former teammates. “It’s kind of sad.”

Kluwe wonders if anything will be different now that the 7-1/2-month saga is over. After Kluwe threatened a lawsuit, he and the Vikings reached a settlement Tuesday in which the team will donate an undisclosed amount of money to five gay rights organizations.

That follows the Vikings’ announcement last month of results of their investigation. It was determined that Kluwe was released for football-only reasons, and Priefer was suspended for the first three games of the season for making one inappropriate remark.

“(Players) I’ve reached out to, it’s something where I think they’re worried that having this being dragged on to them would affect their future employment chances,” Kluwe said. “It’s a legitimate concern because, as we’ve seen, you can get blacklisted from the NFL for being involved in causes. It still hurts a little bit because you really kind of find out who your friends are when things aren’t going so great. So we’ll see what happens in the future.”

When asked Tuesday whether he is open to mending fences with Kluwe, long snapper Cullen Loeffler said, “Yeah, I guess.” When asked if he would take a call from Kluwe, he said, “Sure.”

Kluwe and Loeffler had been good friends. Loeffler corroborated during the investigation that Priefer made one homophobic remark, although Loeffler said he believed the coach was joking at the time. Kluwe has said Priefer made multiple inappropriate comments.

“I think it’s a great decision,” Loeffler, a 10-year veteran, said of the Vikings agreeing to donate to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) causes. “I think they’re going to carry out what they’ve always done since the time I’ve been here.”

Kluwe, who played for the Vikings from 2005-12, said he’s open to rekindling a relationship with Loeffler and kicker Blair Walsh, his teammate in 2012.

“If they call me back, I’m not going to abandon their call,” Kluwe said. “I’ll answer the phone.”

When Kluwe was Walsh’s holder in 2012, the rookie made 35 of 38 field-goal attempts, including 10 of 10 from 50 yards or more, and made the Pro Bowl. Walsh, with punter Jeff Locke taking over as holder last year, went 26 of 30 on field-goal attempts, including 2 of 5 from 50 or longer.

In two preseason games this month, Walsh has missed an extra point and both of his field-goal attempts from 50 or more. Kluwe was asked if a change in holders could have anything to do with Walsh having less success.

“That’s potentially inflammatory,” Kluwe said. “I’ll avoid that. It’s tough to get used to new holders. That’s a given across the league. … When you develop a rhythm with a guy, sometimes it takes a couple months to develop a rhythm, sometimes it takes a couple years.

“It really is, how are we working together? Do I feel comfortable with the way the ball is down, and do I trust that it’s going to be there when I need it to? You’ve just got to keep practicing.”

As for his NFL career, Kluwe, 32, reiterated that it probably has been over since the Deadspin article was published. But he said he’ll continue to train in case a team does call.

Follow Chris Tomasson at twitter.com/christomasson. Brian Murphy contributed to this story.