Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and head coach Andy Reid broke their silence on kicker Harrison Butker’s recent controversial comments while addressing reporters during the team’s organized team activity on Wednesday (May 22). Butker, 28, took aim at working women, the LGBTQ+ community and abortion rights during a recent graduation ceremony at Benedictine College earlier this month.
“I’ve known him for seven years. I judge him by the character he shows every day and that’s a good person,” Mahomes said via the Athletic’s Nate Taylor. “We’re not always going to agree. He said certain things I don’t agree with.” “I’ve seen the clips,” Mahomes added. “That’s his views. Reid said he didn’t think he “needed to” when asked about giving a response to Butker’s comments.
Patrick Mahomes on Harrison Butker’s commencement speech: “I’ve known him for seven years. I judge him by the character he shows every day and that’s a good person. … We’re not always going to agree. He said certain things I don’t agree with.”
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) May 22, 2024
We’re a microcosm of life,” Reid said via Taylor. “We all respect each other’s opinions. We all have a voice.”
Andy Reid on Harrison Butker’s comments from his commencement speech: “I didn’t think I need to. We’re a microcosm of life. … We all respect each other’s opinions. We all have a voice.”
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) May 22, 2024
The NFL publicly condemned Butker’s comments amid growing backlash last week. “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” said Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, in a written statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday (May 15). “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.”
Butker, 28, a three-time Super Bowl champion, quoted a song by Taylor Swift, the billionaire pop superstar girlfriend of teammate Travis Kelce, before taking aim at what he claimed were “diabolical lies told to women,” and the LGBTQ+ community — which Swift has publicly been an outspoken ally for — claiming Pride Month represented “deadly sins,” as well as abortion, in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, President Joe Biden and what he referred to as “the cultural emasculation of men.”
“For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment,” Butker said. “I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you.” “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, 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 added.
Butker was drafted by the Carolina Panthers at No. 233 overall in the seventh-round of the 2017 NFL Draft, but was waived early in his rookie season and signed by the Chiefs off the Panthers’ practice squad on September 26, 2017. The former Georgia Tech standout has emerged as one of the NFL’s best kickers, kicking a game-winning field goal during Kansas City’s Super Bowl LVII win against the Philadelphia Eagles, setting a career record for field goals in the Super Bowl (9) during his four appearances and making the longest field goal in Super Bowl history during the Chiefs’ win against the San Francisco 49ers in February and leading the NFL in scoring during the 2019 regular season.
