In 1994, his parents opted to home-school Kluwe, who tested above his grade. They wanted to keep him with his peers athletically rather than have him enter high school a year early. Sandy Kluwe created a rigorous curriculum, which consisted of "Shakespeare, the Federalist papers and Latin conjugations," he said.

At Los Alamitos High School, Kluwe decided to play football instead of soccer. A kicker and punter, he once struck a 60-yard field goal in a playoff game to force overtime. (Los Alamitos eventually won, 30-23.)

"He came home one day from a kicking camp and said, ‘I’m going to get a scholarship to play football in college,’ " Sandy Kluwe said, " ‘and then I’m going to play in the N.F.L.’ Just like that."

Much to his parents’ dismay, Kluwe turned down Harvard to attend U.C.L.A., where he graduated in 2003 with a double major in political science and history.

Ronald Kluwe said: "When he got off the phone with the Harvard coach, he said: ‘Dad, I’ll be the second biggest guy on the Harvard team, and I’m the punter.’ And I said, ‘O.K., Chris, just let your mother know because I’m not that brave.’ "