Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has no regrets about calling out women in the workplace with his controversial Benedictine College commencement speech, a message he says was never intended to be an attack.
“I love women, I love my wife and this comes from love,” Butker told reporters Wednesday.
The three-time Super Bowl winner, 29, received a standing ovation at the Catholic university in Kansas and a national backlash after telling women in the audience that they should be more “excited” about becoming wives and mothers rather than successful professionals. Referring to his wife Isabelle in the audience, Butker said she would be “the first to say that her life really began” when she married him and began raising their three children.
Addressing Chiefs reporters at training camp on Wednesday, Butker praised his teammates for their understanding while reaffirming his decision to make the speech. He was particularly happy to have the support of head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.
“I was very encouraged to hear that,” Butker said. “The fact that (Reid, Mahomes and Kelce) were able to publicly say, ‘You know, Harrison made all these public statements that maybe people don’t agree with, but I’ve seen Harrison for seven years be a person of good character,’ I think that meant a lot to me that they said that.”
Butker in her commencement speech in May: ‘I would venture to say that most of you (women) are very excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world’
Reid (pictured), Mahomes and Kelce defended Butker without backing up his message.
Travis Kelce (right) echoed Patrick Mahomes (left) in offering his support for Harrison Butker
Reid, Mahomes and Kelce defended Butker without necessarily endorsing his message to students.
“I’ve known him for two-plus years,” Kelce said during a podcast in May. “I appreciate him as a teammate. I think Pat (Mahomes) said it best, he’s a great person and a great teammate.”
Reid, meanwhile, said the team respects Butker’s opinion and added that he did not believe the kicker was attacking women.
Chiefs players also had plenty to say about his speech, and not all of it was negative.
In fact, Butker explained, his speech helped start a series of locker room debates on the topic.
“This team is so close that ever since that speech, there’s been a lot of conversations in the locker room of guys just connecting and trying to understand each other,” Butker said. “I think that’s been a beautiful thing to see and I think that’s what makes sports and football so special.”
“There aren’t many sports where you have 50 to 100 players with different beliefs fighting together to win. So there are a lot of different personalities and backgrounds.”
Butker enters the season as the NFL’s highest-paid kicker after signing a $25 million contract with KC
The speech was very personal for Butker, who admitted seeing his wife get emotional as he addressed the crowd.
“My wife had never heard me speak in public and she was there at the time and she was in the back of one of the offices and I was just emotional seeing her cry and realizing that she had sacrificed so much for me,” he said.
“She’s turned her life around and focused on being the best wife and mother, and I love her so much for that. And I see how happy and excited she is every day.”
As for the speech itself, Butker has no regrets, though he admits he surprised himself by stepping out of his comfort zone.
“I’m an introvert, for sure,” she said Wednesday. “I try to protect my privacy as much as possible.”
But when Benedictine College saw that Butker had given a commencement address at his alma mater, Georgia Tech, the converted football player decided to “pray about it.”
Butker eventually became convinced that the speech was the right idea.
“I’m going to prepare for months for this speech and I’m going to stand by what I’m going to say,” he said of his thought process. “I look at the offseason as a little five-month period where I can represent myself as Harrison Butker, a faithful Catholic. And obviously when the season comes, I try to focus as much as I can on football and not be a distraction to the Chiefs.”
There has been considerable backlash, including some jokes at his expense during ESPN’s annual ESPY Awards broadcast.
But while he typically avoids fan opinions about his on-field performance, Butker couldn’t help but weigh in on some comments about his speech.
“I appreciate all the comments,” he said. “When it comes to football, I don’t look at the comments, good or bad, that are made about me. But since it was the offseason and I was saying a lot of things, I was very curious to see what people would say to me. I respected all points of view.”
Butker maintained that his comments in May came “from a place of love” during his exchange with reporters on Wednesday.
“I just want the best for people,” he said. “That’s what I was trying to say there. I think the people that were in that gym understood what I was trying to say.”
Butker enters the season as the NFL’s highest-paid kicker after signing a four-year, $25.6 million contract to remain in Kansas City.