May is a quiet time around the NFL. The Kansas City Chiefs were probably happy with some downtime.
Then their kicker made national news with a speech that was condemned in several corners of America’s expanding culture war as offensive to women and the LGBTQ+ community.
Harrison Butker spoke during a graduation speech about how women were told “diabolical lies” about entering the workforce, but “the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.” ‘ He then took a stab at Pride Month as part of ‘deadly sins’. Suddenly, the Chiefs’ kicker became the latest character on social media, and the NFL had to issue a statement distancing itself from Butker’s comments.
“Harrison Butker delivered a speech in his personal capacity,” Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, said in a statement. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusivity, which only makes our league stronger.”
When a team in any sport starts winning too much, it’s easy to start hating it. So the tide was already turning against the Chiefs after three Super Bowl victories in five seasons and two consecutive seasons.
But the Chiefs are giving plenty of reason for weary fans to turn on them. Including Butker, which set aside jersey sales.
Lots of negative headlines for Kansas City
Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots were once warm and cuddly underdogs for America. It’s true.
They were a great story after upsetting the St. Louis Rams for their first Super Bowl at the end of the 2001 season. Then they started winning more. Spygate and Deflategate happened. There were other headlines that added fuel. It wasn’t long before virtually everyone aside from Patriots fans actively opposed them. It happens.
It will happen to the Chiefs too. And they speed up the process.
It should be hard to dislike the Chiefs. Andy Reid is a great coach and a friendly character. Patrick Mahomes is as exciting a quarterback as we’ve seen and also very likable. Even they received some flak and memes on social media for yelling and criticizing officials last season, for which they were fined. Then some controversial headlines could help turn football fans against the Chiefs.
There was overexposure with the Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift storyline. Not everyone was against that, but many had a visceral reaction to seeing a pop superstar on their television multiple times during every Chiefs game. There was even a conspiracy theory that the NFL had scheduled a Chiefs game in Buffalo around that time, near a Swift tour stop in Toronto. The NFL denied that, but it wouldn’t be the first time the league tried to curry favor with Swift.
Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice was very good late in his rookie season and looked like a budding star. Then in April, a car crash occurred in which sports cars raced at high speeds and crashed into innocent people, and Rice’s attorney said Rice was driving the Lamborghini in the scene captured on video. The NFL could suspend him for multiple games.
Also in the offseason, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson was criticized after he commuted the sentence of former Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid, Andy Reid’s son, after he was convicted of DWI following a crash that seriously injured a 5-year-old girl hit. . Reid was given a three-year prison sentence, which was a plea deal less than the maximum sentence of seven years, and this was commuted by Parson after sixteen months.
The Chiefs had a tough offseason long before Butker gave his graduation speech.
Chiefs have had a long offseason
The Chiefs would have turned into the enemy anyway. In this age of social media, when a team wins too much, the fans will turn on them. Chiefs fans will continue to enjoy the ride, but pretty much everyone else will be hoping they lose.
There have been other headlines weighing heavily on the Chiefs, but there were no reasons to dislike them. Violence broke out during the Super Bowl parade. Voters rejected a stadium tax to renovate Arrowhead Stadium, putting the Chiefs’ future in Kansas City in doubt. Rookie first-round pick Xavier Worthy said his car was stolen from the parking garage of his apartment complex. It’s been a long offseason for the Chiefs.
The Chiefs should build excitement about their push for a third straight Super Bowl championship, something no other team has accomplished. Instead, there have been plenty of other things to distract them.
It’s already been a tough season in Kansas City. And there are still about four months to go before the regular season starts.
