Patrick Mahomes Backs Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker Following Controversial Speech

Taiyler S. Mitchell

22 May 2024 at 9:30 pm·2-min read

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes on Wednesday defended Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker in the wake of a controversial commencement speech Butker gave at Benedictine College earlier this month.

“I’ve known him for seven years and I judge him by the character he shows every single day,” Mahomes said, referring to Butker as a “good person ... that cares about the people around him.”

“When you’re in the locker room, there’s a lot of different people from a lot of different areas in life and they have a lot of different views on everything,” Mahomes continued. “There’s certain things he said that I don’t necessarily agree with, but I understand the person that he is and he’s trying to do everything he can to lead people in the right direction.”

In his speech at the Kansas liberal arts college, Butker expressed arch-conservative and at times bigoted views, taking aim at “dangerous gender ideologies,” the “tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion” and President Joe Biden.

“He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice,” Butker said of the president.

“Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues,” he added. “Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.”

In the days following the ceremony, Butker’s speech received the ire of Taylor Swift fans (for dismissing her as merely tight end Travis Kelce’s “girlfriend”) and was shunned by the NFL.

“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, said in a May 16 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.”

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