There is Kirsten Krug, the executive vice president of administration for the Kansas City Chiefs. She oversees player services and, during the height of the Covid pandemic, ensured the Chiefs were healthy and safe while doing double duty as one of the club’s infectious control officers. There is Tiffany Morton, an assistant athletic trainer who keeps the players stretched, frozen and strapped in so they can maximize performance on the field. There’s also Rosetta Shinault, a security guard who helps keep the peace so the players can do their jobs without incident. These three Chiefs employees are just a handful of the many women who keep the organization running. They’re parts of the framework that has helped the Chiefs win three Super Bowls in five seasons and allowed Harrison Butker to do what he does best: kick a football.
Unfortunately, Butker also opens his mouth sometimes.
The archaic, idiotic Chiefs frog began his speech at Benedictine College in Kansas last weekend by saying that he has been known to speak his mind. He then did just that by belittling any female graduates who might have a spark of ambition in the verb: “I just want to speak to you briefly because I think you, the women, have been through the most devilish things. lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here right now, about to cross this stage, thinking about all the promotions and titles you’re going to achieve in your career? 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.”
Butker appealed to his wife Isabelle, applauding her decision to become a “housewife,” a role he called “one of the most important titles of all.” For the record, the title “housewife” has largely done that put out to pasture since the 1960s. There is of course nothing wrong with the role, which requires all kinds of skills. But the modern version is “stay-at-home mom,” which refers to the idea that the woman in question is a choice to stay at home for any reason, that is not our business. And it is equally true if a woman wants to live a fulfilling life outside her family – if she chooses to do so at all. Besides, Butker might implode if he also realized the increasing popularity of the stay-at-home dad.
Butker also showed a laughable misunderstanding of pop culture. Referring to Taylor Swift’s lyrics from Bejeweled, he said: “As my teammate’s girlfriend says, ‘Fame breeds contempt.'” If you’re using your platform to argue that women should stay in the kitchen, maybe find someone more qualified is, to quote, literally the most successful career woman in the world (and someone who has also spoken out in support of abortion rights and Pride Month, topics Butker also attacked in his speech).
It would be easy to become another voice calling for Butker’s head. But he is entitled to his backward-looking opinions, which are shared by millions of Americans. and many professional athletes.
And in a way, Butker’s comments are cause for celebration. His words were so stupid that they served as a reminder of the beauty of progress. In particular, the continued and intentional growth of women working in the NFL. Not just with the Chiefs. Not just in entry-level positions. Despite all the heinous behavior towards women, the NFL has failed – Butker is low on the totem pole of how Some players in the league have treated women – the country has invested heavily in women over the past decade. It’s been eight years since the NFL hosted its first Women’s Careers in Football Forum, and the pipeline for women seeking jobs in coaching, scouting and football administration is real and growing stronger every year. The league now has twelve women in full-season coaching positions, a 141% increase over the past four years.
Those are just coaches. Women pursue careers in all aspects of football because they see reality. They see female civil servants. There are female analysts, dieticians, managers and scouts. They go to work as a football administrator and as a coach at university, knowing that they have the opportunity to reach the highest level in professional football. And the players they interact with enter the league believing and knowing that it is normal to have women in these roles.
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Additionally, the NFL has made a concerted effort to reach out to the LGBTQ community. The NFL’s Chief Diversity Officer Jonathan Beane quickly distanced the league from Butker’s comments: “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization.” Beane told Outsports. “The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusivity, which only makes our league stronger.”
In recent years, the NFL has created a Pride clothing line, hosted Super Bowl Pride parties and LGBTQ events for employees. Butker may be shocked to learn that a gay woman, Sam Rapoport, is the visionary behind the NFL’s women’s pipeline. Now that the NFL is senior director of diversity, equity and inclusion, Rapoport isn’t going anywhere, which means the NFL will only become more diverse.
The league is no longer populated by crotchety old white dudes. Women have careers in the NFL. They watch the NFL. They buy NFL paraphernalia. Some women play because flag football becomes a sanctioned high school sport in more states every year. And many women are working hard in Kansas City to make Butker’s job easier. He should be thanking them, not telling the world to make him a sandwich at home.