There are certain NFL circles that consider kickers to be an all-time punchline when it comes to football rosters.
Fox Sports pundit Skip Bayless, for instance, really, really, really hates kickers and has never been shy about that disdain.
But despite the incessant kicking and screaming from Bayless and NFL fans of his ilk, kickers are very much a part of football (the New England Patriots, for example, probably don’t win either of their first two Super Bowls without kicker Adam Vinatieri.)
Kickers and punters decide games, championships, and key field positions. They are oftentimes chosen as captains in the NFL. Kickers and punters can also occasionally take savage hits like any other NFL player would.
But turns out that those special teams players can be “special” in their own right, based on a recent viral video showcasing Kansas City Chiefs kicker and two-time Super Bowl champion Harrison Butker.
The 27-year-old kicker from Georgia is a great player in his own right. Butker currently sits in fourth place on the NFL’s all-time field goal percentage list with a sterling 88.17 percent field goal conversion rate. And, again, the man has two Super Bowl rings — a claim that NFL luminaries like Dan Marino, Brett Favre and Randy Moss cannot make.
Yet, despite all those accolades, the best thing Butker has done so far with his platform as a bona fide NFL kicker is… telling young people to go start a family? Indeed.
You can watch the viral clip below:
Two-time Catholic Super Bowl Champ @buttkicker7 STUNS graduates with most important, unexpected advice:
“In the end— no matter how much money you attain— none of it will matter if you are alone and devoid of purpose… I can offer one controversial antidote that I believe will… pic.twitter.com/NiNNKfWal9
— Danny De Urbina (@dannydeurbina) May 6, 2023
“I am someone not much older than all of you,” the 27-year-old kicker said Saturday morning at the first of Georgia Tech’s two undergraduate commencement ceremonies at Bobby Dodd Stadium, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Georgia Institute of Technology is Butker’s alma mater.
“Yet, I’ve been asked to speak, not because I’m a great orator, or because I have a number of impressive accolades,” Butker said. “Well, I guess I do have two Super Bowl rings. I just happen to be blessed by God to be really good at kicking a funny-shaped ball between two yellow posts. So as someone who is not paid to speak for a living, I’m about to pop off some hard truths.”
One of those “hard truths”?
“In the end, no matter how much money you attain, none of it will matter if you are alone and devoid of purpose,” Butker said. “As someone raised in a family of overachievers, success was expected and as a young man, I found happiness in being celebrated for my worldly achievements.
“My inner desire to be celebrated manifested academically through long hours of studying and, of course, riding the curve. That desire was pushed further by the many successes I attained playing here, on the flats. All of you are here today because you are smart, capable and hard-working people.
“But if we’re being honest, the world is filled with miserable, smart, capable and hard-working people.”
Indeed, Butker’s messaging is an important one for young men and women about to enter the real world. So much of modern society is so focused on “success” and whatever nebulous form that may take for people, whether it’s a six-figure salary or a certain number of luxury homes, that it’s become far too easy to get lost in the hustle.
“Our culture is suffering,” Butker said. “We all see it. It doesn’t matter which political persuasion you sit on, or whether you’re a person of deep faith or not. Anyone with eyes can see that something is off. Studies have shown one of the many negative effects of the pandemic is that a lot of young adults feel a sense of loneliness, anxiety and depression, despite technology that has connected us more than ever before.
“It would seem the more connected people are to one another, the more they feel alone. I’m not sure the root of this, but at least I can offer one controversial antidote that I believe will have a lasting impact for generations to come.
“Get married and start a family.”
That last remark was met with applause. Color this writer surprised given the godlessness of modern society, but seeing Butker’s powerfully biblical message resonating with young people was a sight for sore eyes.
Butker then pointed to his wedding band and called it “the most important ring I have.”
The Kansas City kicker has never been shy about his Catholic roots, but that doesn’t make it any less of a refreshing surprise to see him espouse such powerful truths to the next generation of young men and women about to enter the workforce. It’s a marked contrast from many on the left acting as if marriage is a prison sentence or torture session.
If only more pro athletes and celebrities could spread a similar message of faith and family. The world would frankly be a better place.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
