Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s controversial opening statement appears to have had no impact on his standing on his team of seven years.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoke to reporters for the first time since Butker addressed the Benedictine College graduates and said he disagreed with some of the statements made but endorsed Butker’s character.
“I know Harrison. I have known him for seven years and I judge him by the character he shows every day and that is a good person. That is someone who cares about the people around him, about his family and wants to provide a good impact in society. When you sit in a locker room there are a lot of people from a lot of different areas in life and they have a lot of different views on everything.
“We’re not always going to see eye to eye, and there are certain things he said that I don’t necessarily agree with, but I understand the person he is, and he tries to do what he can to make people feel good to lead the trail. direction. Those may not be the same values ​​as me, but at the same time I’m going to judge him on the character he shows every day. That’s a great person, and we will continue to try to help build each other up to make ourselves better every day.”
When Butker asked him what exactly he disagreed with, Mahomes only alluded to “certain values ​​that certain people emphasize more than others.”
Butker spoke on several politically sensitive topics, including his opposition to abortion, his opposition to in vitro fetalization, his opposition to LGBTQ pride, a false claim about the Antisemitism Awareness Act recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and his belief that women have been told ‘diabolical lies’ about pursuing a professional career instead of becoming a housewife.
The speech received applause at the conservative Benedictine College, while several groups, including a group of nuns affiliated with the school and some students, later criticized the statements. One of the Chiefs’ division rivals also got a quick shot in.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid responded similarly to Mahomes’, emphasizing the team’s diversity while sidestepping his thoughts on the content of the speech:
“I talk to Harrison all the time. I haven’t talked to him about this. I didn’t think I needed to. We are a microcosm of life. Everyone comes from different areas, different religions, different races, etc. We can we all get along, we all respect each other’s opinions and we don’t necessarily follow them, but we respect that everyone has a voice.
“It’s the beautiful thing about America and we are, as I said, just a microcosm of that. My wish is that everyone can more or less follow that.”
Reid also said he did not believe the topic had become a distraction for the Chiefs and that no female Chiefs employee had come to him with doubts about Butker’s speech.
The Butker controversy is just one of a handful of off-field stories involving the reigning Super Bowl champions, which have seen top wide receiver Rashee Rice arrested for his Lamborghini crash, the rejection of a stadium tax to keep the team in Arrowhead Stadium and the arrest of two players for marijuana possession.
Meanwhile, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell similarly pointed out the number of differing opinions in the league’s locker rooms, via Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports:
“We have over 3,000 players. … They have a diversity of opinions and thoughts, just like America. I think that’s something we cherish and ultimately it’s part of what makes us better as a society.”
The NFL had previously released a statement distancing itself from Butker’s views.
