The average football fan may not now who Harrison Butker is. But they probably should. The three-time Super Bowl-winning kicker for the Patrick Mahomes-Travis Kelce era of the Kansas City Chiefs is looking to help his team do something that no team has ever done: win three straight Super Bowls.
But the kicker’s stellar performances on the field were overshadowed this weekend when Butker took the podium at a commencement ceremony at Benedictine College in Kansas and espoused viewpoints that might have made some wonder if he was instead playing for Hank Stram’s Chiefs teams of the 1960s.
The kicker’s stellar performances on the field were overshadowed this weekend when Butker took the podium at a commencement ceremony at Benedictine College.
Standing in front of a graduating class that included many young women, the 28-year-old Butker claimed that while many women might “go on to lead successful careers in the world,” he believes more of them are “most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.” His wife, Butker continued, would agree. Her “life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” he told the Catholic private liberal arts school students.
Not content to talk just about gender roles, Butker turned political as he criticized President Joe Biden and his Covid-19 policies. “Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media all stem from pervasiveness of disorder,” he continued. Calling June’s Pride Month “the deadly sin sort of pride,” Butker also specifically criticized the LGBTQ community, which he claimed promotes “dangerous gender ideologies.”
The NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer said Butker’s remarks don’t reflect the views of the league. But that’s about it. The Chiefs? No comment. Butker? No further comment. Maybe that’s for the best for all involved.
In a day and age where hypocrisy has become as much the rule as the exception, I can’t help but wonder what Colin Kaepernick is thinking as he stares from afar at the recent backlash, or lack thereof. Kaepernick last played in an NFL game on New Year’s Day 2017. After a six-year run, including five as a starting quarterback and a trip to the Super Bowl, the San Francisco 49er star’s career was over at the age of 30 after he started speaking out about racial justice issues and police brutality.








