Chiefs’ kicker Butker rails against Pride, Biden and working women in speech
Kansas City Chiefs leader Harrison Butker denounced Pride month, working women, US President Biden’s leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic and abortion during a speech at Benedictine College last weekend.
The three-time Super Bowl champion gave the approximately 20-minute speech Saturday at the Catholic private liberal arts school in Atchison, Kansas, which is about 60 miles north of Kansas City.
Butker, who has made his conservative Catholic beliefs known, began his speech by attacking what he called “dangerous gender ideologies” in an apparent reference to Pride month, which has been celebrated in June since the 1969 Stonewall riots. article from the Associated Press in which a shift towards conservatism in some parts of the Catholic Church.
Butker, 28, then took aim at Biden’s policies, including his response to Covid-19, which has killed nearly 1.2 million people in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“While Covid may have played a major role in your formative years, it is not unique,” he said. “Bad policies and leadership have negatively affected major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as growing support for degenerate cultural values and media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.”
Butker later addressed the women in the audience, arguing that their “main title” should be that of “housewife.”
“I think it’s you, the women, who have been told the most diabolical lies,” Butker said. “Some of you may have successful careers in the world, but I would hazard a guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly began when she began living her calling as a wife and as a mother.
The Chiefs declined to comment on Butker’s speech.
The 2017 seventh-round pick out of Georgia Tech has emerged as one of the NFL’s best kickers, breaking the Chiefs’ franchise record with a 62-yard field goal in 2022. Butker helped them win their first Super Bowl in 50 years in 2020, added a second Lombardi Trophy in 2023, and he kicked the field goal that forced overtime in a Super Bowl win over San Francisco in February.
However, it was an embarrassing offseason for the Chiefs.
Last month, voters in Jackson County, Missouri, decisively rejected a ballot initiative that would have helped fund a downtown ballpark for the Royals and an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Chiefs. Many voters criticized the Chiefs’ plan because it primarily targeted VIPs and the wealthy.
That same week, wide receiver Rashee Rice turned himself in to Dallas police on multiple charges, including aggravated assault, after he was involved in a high-speed crash that injured four people. Rice has acknowledged being the driver of one of the sports cars traveling in excess of 100 mph, and video shows him leaving the scene without providing information or determining whether anyone needed medical attention.
Last week, law enforcement officials told the Dallas Morning News that Rice was also suspected of assaulting someone at a downtown nightclub; Dallas police did not name Rice as a suspect in a report to the Associated Press.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he spoke with the trustee and the team let the legal process play out.