Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker thinks one of the “most important” titles a woman can hold is homemaker, even though his own mother, Elizabeth Keller Butker, has spent the last three decades working as an accomplished medical physicist.
Butker, 28, voiced the inflammatory comments toward women and the LGBTQ+ community during a commencement speech last weekend at Benedictine College, a Catholic liberal arts school in Atchison, Kansas. The NFL player railed against abortion, Pride month and Covid-19 lockdown measures.
Drawing the most viral backlash this week, however, was a part of his speech addressing the female graduates specifically — telling them that it’s women who have had “the most diabolical lies” told to them.
“How many of you are sitting here now, about to cross this stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world,” Butker said. “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.”
He went on to tell the graduates that his wife would agree that her life “truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.” It is her embrace of this role, he said, that made his own professional success possible.
Contrast that with Butker’s own mother, who has worked in the department of radiation oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta for decades, according to her LinkedIn.
Inspired by her father — Dr. James Keller, who held an appointment at the Winship Cancer Institute’s Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology for 13 years and the Winship Department of Radiation Oncology for 15 years — Keller Butker joined the center in 1988, where she specializes in brachytherapy and Gamma Knife medical physics care.
“What an amazing ride these past three years have been for us watching Harrison play for the Chiefs,” Keller Butker told the Institute in 2020. “We are so proud not only of Harrison’s success as a kicker in the NFL but also of the man he has become.”
In his commencement speech, Butker told the male graduates about the men he hopes they will become. “… be unapologetic in your masculinity,” he said. “Fight against the cultural emasculation of men.”
Butker capped off his misogynistic, homophobic and transphobic remarks by quoting Taylor Swift, one of the most successful singer-songwriters in music history, who landed on Forbes billionaires list last month.
"As my teammate’s girlfriend says, ‘familiarity breeds contempt'," Butker said. The lyric is a line from Swift’s song, "Bejeweled" on her 2022 album, "Midnights."
The firestorm he ignited — not only among Swifties — has reached a fever pitch since the Kansas City Chiefs star put his powerful field-goal-kicking foot into his mouth.
“What does your mom think about your little speech Harrison?” posted Vicki Chan, a medical doctor and TikTok influencer.
"I am moved. I actually had no idea that my life began when I met my husband," neurosurgeon Betsy Grunch, known as Ladyspinedoc on TikTok, said sarcastically in a TikTok video. "It did not begin when I graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia with honors. It certainly did not begin when I graduated with a 4.0 GPA, Alpha Omega Alpha, from medical school. And I had no idea that it did not begin when I completed my residency in neurosurgery."
The NFL — which has tried to gain female fans for years — distanced itself from Butker’s comments this week. "Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity," Jonathan Beane, the league’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, told People in a written statement. "His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger."
Former Kansas City commissioner Justice Horn went a step further. "Harrison Butker doesn’t represent Kansas City nor has he ever," Horn wrote in a post. "Kansas City has always been a place that welcomes, affirms, and embraces our LGBTQ+ community members."
The Los Angeles Chargers took their shot at Butker too, dropping a Sims-style video mocking their opponents only moments after the NFL released its 2024 schedule. At the 2:55 mark, the Chargers’ post showed a No. 7 Chiefs player (Butker’s number) toiling away in an old fashion kitchen — baking, cleaning and struggling with a flower arrangement.
In the court of public opinion, a Change.org petition calling for the Kansas City Chiefs to boot Butker “for discriminatory remarks” has over 134,000 signatures and counting.
As of Thursday, neither Benedictine College nor the Kansas City Chiefs have officially commented on the matter.