Love him or hate him, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s graduation speech at a private Catholic liberal arts school in Kansas is still getting attention.
On Friday, sales for the kicker’s No. 7 jersey soared and was the “most popular” in Chiefs’ merchandise, beating prominent players like quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, according to Fox News.
Butker spoke at the graduation ceremony at Benedictine College on May 11 and made some divisive remarks involving abortion, women, Biden and LGBTQ community.
Even the Benedictine nuns affiliated with college in Atchison, Kansas, denounced his words.
“The sisters of Mount St. Scholastica do not believe that Harrison Butker’s comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested,” the nuns wrote in a statement.
One topic the sisters took issue with was the role of women in society and as homemakers.
“I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross the stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you’re going to get in your career?” he said . “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.”
This topic, the sister asserted, “fostered division,” per NPR.
“Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division,” they said. “One of our concerns was the assertion that being a homemaker is the highest calling for a woman. We sisters have dedicated our lives to God and God’s people, including the many women whom we have taught and influenced during the past 160 years. These women have made a tremendous difference in the world in their roles as wives and mothers and through their God-given gifts in leadership, scholarship, and their careers.”
Members of the media have also spoken out about the speech.
HuffPost opinion editor Stephen A. Crockett said, Butker put “his foot was firmly in his mouth” during the speech.
“WTF is wrong with this guy? No, seriously, WTF is wrong with him? I can’t say that he’s been knocked around too many times, as he’s a kicker (which is Latin for definitely not getting knocked around),” Crockett wrote.
“Butker’s entire dreadful speech could be summed up in a few words: He’s a White man who is afraid of losing,” he said. “What he’s actually afraid of losing, no one knows. But someone, some mythical someone, is always working to take something away from White men.”
Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins also wrote about Butker.
“He’s not even a very influential member of his own team. He deserves a merely proportional response. The best reply to Butker is to make fun of him; kickers hate that,” she said.
“Enough with the outrage over his beliefs. Who cares whether a kicker thinks a woman’s proper role is in the home, so long as you don’t have to live as a handmaiden in his household? I’m more concerned with his scaremonger, doomwatcher language,” Jenkins said. “It’s his symptomatic inflationary alarmism that’s worth worrying about.”
ABC News’ “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg may not agree with what Butker said, but defended his right to say it, per Fox News.
“Listen, I like when people say what they need to say. He’s at a Catholic college. He’s a staunch Catholic. These are his beliefs and he’s welcome to ’em,” Goldberg said. “I don’t have to believe ’em. I don’t have to accept them … The same way we want respect when [former NFL quarterback and civil rights activist] Colin Kaepernick takes a knee, we want to give respect to people whose ideas are different from ours.”
