ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker said Wednesday that he still doesn’t regret any part of the commencement speech he gave in May at Benedictine College, a speech in which he said a woman’s most important title is “homemaker” among other controversial comments, which led to widespread criticism of him throughout the NFL’s offseason.
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“Seven years in the league, having this platform, I’ve just decided there’s things that I believe wholeheartedly that I think will make this world a better place,” Butker said after training camp practice in his first news conference since the speech. “I’m going to preach that. If people don’t agree, then they don’t agree. I’m going to continue to say what I believe to be true and love everyone along the way.”
In May, Butker told the Benedictine College graduates to prevent political leaders from interfering with social issues that impact their relationship with the Catholic Church. Butker also addressed gender ideologies and said a woman’s most important title is “homemaker.”
“It is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you,” Butker said during the speech. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”
We've officially signed @buttkicker7 to an extension.
The man with the most field goals in Super Bowl history stays in Chiefs Kingdom! pic.twitter.com/DIJURs5hZE
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) August 7, 2024
Butker, the NFL’s highest-paid kicker after signing a four-year contract extension this week, has experienced a significant amount of backlash, with many people criticizing him for viewing a woman’s role in the workforce as less important than a man’s.
Last month, tennis legend Serena Williams made a joke at Butker’s expense while hosting the 2024 ESPY Awards, which Butker attended. While Williams discussed the year in women’s sports onstage with “Abbott Elementary” star Quinta Brunson, Venus Williams, her sister, told the audience to “go ahead and enjoy women’s sports, like you would any other sports, because they are sports.”
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Serena then added the punchline: “Except you, Harrison Butker. We don’t need you.”
“At all. Like, ever,” Brunson said.
The telecast did not show Butker’s reaction to Williams’ jab, but he issued a response afterward. On Wednesday, Butker tried to explain that his commencement speech and overall views are not meant to disrespect women.
“My whole career, I’ve talked about how I’m a husband and I’m a father before it comes to me as a kicker,” he said. “It’s something I’ve always preached. But when I use that to talk about women, and I say that they should embrace and love being (a wife) and being (a mother) over their career, I think then it gets misconstrued that I’m trying to put women down, which I’m not at all.
“I love women. I love my wife (Isabelle). My wife had never heard me speak publicly (before) and she was there for that moment, and she was up in the background. I was getting emotional looking at her crying and understanding that she has sacrificed so much for me. She has completely changed her life around and she has made sure she has focused on being the ultimate wife and mother. I see how happy and excited she is day to day, to wake up and embrace that life. She pushes me to be a better husband and father and focus on my three children and focus on her over maybe trying to be the best kicker I can be.”
Another controversial part of Butker’s commencement speech was when he referred to Pride Month as an example of the “deadly sins.” Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, a non-profit LGBTQ advocacy organization, said in a statement that Butker’s speech was “inaccurate, ill-informed and woefully out of step with Americans about Pride, LGBTQ people and women.”
“Those with expansive platforms, especially athletes, should use their voices to uplift and expand understanding and acceptance in the world,” she said. “Instead, Butker’s remarks undermine experiences not of his own and reveal him to be one who goes against his own team’s commitment to the Kansas City community, and the NFL’s standards for respect, inclusion and diversity across the league.”
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The NFL released a statement, too, as it distanced itself from Butker’s comments, saying his views are not the same as the league as an organization. When asked about Butker’s speech at the league meetings in Nashville in May, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league has a “diversity of opinions and thoughts.”
While the NFL isn’t in season during Pride Month, the league participates in LGBTQ+ initiatives. On the Wednesday before Super Bowl LVIII, the NFL hosted a “Night of Pride” event in partnership with GLAAD, the LGBTQ+ advocacy organization. The Chiefs are among the NFL teams that have a Pride selection of apparel with rainbow colors.
“I look at the offseason as a five-month period where I can represent myself as Harrison Butker as a faithful Catholic,” he said Wednesday. “Then obviously, when it gets to the season I try to focus as much as I can on football and not being a distraction from the Chiefs.”
Butker also used his speech to criticize President Joe Biden on several issues, including abortion and the COVID-19 pandemic. He questioned Biden’s devotion to Catholicism, too.
Butker reiterated Wednesday that he spent a few months working on his speech. He shared that he prayed about his speech multiple times. Butker stressed that every word he wrote and spoke at Benedictine College was intentional.
“I stand behind what I said,” Butker said. “I really believe if people knew me as a person, and understood that it was coming from a place of love — and not a place of trying to attract or put people down — and that I only want the best for people, that’s what I was trying to say there. I think the people that were in that gymnasium all understood what I was saying.”
Required reading
- Patrick Mahomes: I didn’t agree with all of Harrison Butker’s speech comments, but he’s ‘a good person’
- Sizing up Chiefs’ cornerback competition — the lone position battle in camp
- Chiefs hope to extend Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith and keep roster’s core intact
- Chiefs’ Clyde Edwards-Helaire hopes to help others by sharing his experience with PTSD
(Photo: Denny Medley / USA Today)
Nate Taylor has been a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Kansas City Chiefs since 2018. Before that, he covered the Indiana Pacers at The Indianapolis Star for two years. He has also been a sports features writer for The New York Times and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. A Kansas City native, he graduated from the University of Central Missouri. Follow Nate on Twitter @ByNateTaylor
