Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is standing by his controversial speech he made earlier this year, despite the backlash that followed.
Butker, who helped the Chiefs win their second straight Super Bowl in February, sparked outrage a few months later when he told female graduates of Benedictine College that they should be “more excited” about the idea of becoming wives and mothers instead of successful professionals.
He also faced criticism for speaking out against the LGBTQ+ community and President Joe Biden over his stance on abortion. A petition asking the Chiefs to cut him from their roster eventually garnered nearly 240,000 signatures.
Despite the uproar the speech caused, Butker has no regrets about his speech and refuses to back down from his positions as a devout Catholic.
The 29-year-old said of his thought process when writing his speech: ‘I’m going to spend months preparing for this speech and I’m going to stand by what I say.
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker stands by his controversial graduation speech
“I see the off-season as a little five-month window where I can represent myself as Harrison Butker as a devout Catholic. And of course, when the season comes around, I try to focus as much as possible on football and not get distracted by the Chiefs.”
He added: ‘I prayed about it, I thought about it and I was very deliberate in what I said. I still stand by what I said.’
Butker said he initially had not planned to deliver the speech on May 11 at Benedictine College, a private Catholic liberal arts school in Atchison, Kansas.
He gave a commencement speech at his alma mater Georgia Tech in May 2023, but didn’t want to be “known as a graduation speaker.” However, the Kansas City star changed course after reflecting on his relationship with the university.
‘I would like to [after] “After seven years in the competition, with this platform, I decided, you know what, there are things that I truly believe in and think will make the world a better place, and I’m going to proclaim that,” Butker stressed.
“And if people don’t agree, then they don’t agree. But I’m going to keep saying what I believe and I’m going to keep loving everybody.”
Butker was widely criticised for suggesting that women should prioritise ‘housewifery’, but he refuses to back down from that view
He also praised his teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce for their support
While Butker received a lot of criticism, he also received support from Chiefs teammates Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, as well as head coach Andy Reid.
Reid, Mahomes and Kelce all defended Butker, but didn’t necessarily endorse his message to students.
“I’ve known him for over a year,” Kelce said during a podcast in May. “I cherish him as a teammate. I think Pat [Mahomes] “He’s a great person and a great teammate.”
Reid, meanwhile, said the team respects Butker’s opinion and that he did not believe the kicker attacked women.
Speaking to reporters at training camp on Wednesday, Butker praised his teammates and Reid for their understanding while reaffirming his decision to give the speech.
“I felt very encouraged when I heard that,” he said. “Because [Reid, Mahomes and Kelce] to be able to say publicly, ‘You know, Harrison made all these public statements that people may not agree with, but I’ve seen Harrison for seven years as a person of good character,’ I think it meant a lot to me that they said that.’