On Saturday, May 11th, Harrison Butker, the kicker for the Chiefs and 3-time Super Bowl champion, made a commencement speech at his alma mater. During the speech at Benedictine College, Butker made his right-wing stance clear by making misogynistic, anti-LGBTQ+, and pro-life remarks.

Some Quotes from Butker:

“I think it is you, the women, who have has the most diabolic lies told to you,” Butker said. “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.”

In mentioning pride month, he called LGBTQ+ pride “the deadly sins sort of pride.” He also mentioned how he feels President Biden is “delusional” for his stance on abortion.

Butker even quoted a line from Taylor Swift’s song bejeweled, “familiarity breeds contempt” referring to her as “my teammate’s girlfriend”. Swift is openly a feminist, and often expresses her struggles as a woman in the music industry, often being mistreated by those who think less of her because she is a woman. Many Swifties saw this as a slap in the face, adding to the groups expressing anger towards Butker.

Since the commencement speech, the internet has broken in to outrage, sending concerns and complaints to Butker, The Chiefs, and the NFL. Angry fans have even started a petition to get Butker kicked off the Chiefs, and it has amassed tens of thousands of signatures, nearly reaching its goal of 150,000 signatures.

On May 22nd, Coach Andy Reid had this to say of his player, “I talk to Harrison all the time. I didn’t talk to him about this. I didn’t think we needed to. We’re a microcosm of life. Everybody is from different areas, different religions, different races, and so, we all get along, we all respect each other’s opinions and not necessarily do we go by those, but we respect everybody to have a voice.”