Thousands of people signed a petition asking the Kansas City Chiefs to release kicker Harrison Butker after his commencement speech defending traditional values at Benedictine College last spring. Instead, the team extended his contract and made him the highest-paid kicker in the NFL.
“I feel like, seven years in the league, having this platform, I’ve just decided, you know what, there’s things that I believe wholeheartedly that I think will make this world a better place, and I’m going to preach that,” he said, according to “Crosswalk News. “And if people don’t agree, they don’t agree, but I’m going to continue to say what I believe to be true and love everyone along the way. I prayed about it and I thought about it, and I was very intentional with what I said, and I stand behind what I said.”
The comments that drew the most criticism were when Butker said women were lied to by society, and although they look forward to having careers one day, they ultimately look forward to becoming mothers. “I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” he said.
He believes people misinterpreted his support for family roles and rejected accusations that he is criticizing women.
“My whole career, I’ve talked about how I’m a husband and I’m a father before it comes to me as a kicker, something I’ve always preached,” he said “But then when I use that to talk about women, I say that they should embrace and love being wives and being mothers over their career, I think then it gets construed that I’m trying to put women down, which I’m not at all.”
Butker recently signed a four-year, $25.6 million extension with the Chiefs, with more than $17 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid player at his position.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice