What did Harrison Butker say? Chiefs kicker gives controversial commencement speech at Benedictine College

The start of the NFL season is still more than three months away, but football never truly goes silent — even if that means the headlines from the shirt a coach wears during minicamp
, or from a player’s commencement speech at a small college.

Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker received the honor of delivering the 2024 commencement address at Benedictine College, a small Catholic school in Atchison, Kansas. But certain comments from his speech are ruffling feathers.

On the field, Butker is a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Chiefs, and he has been the Kansas City kicker for the entirety of the Patrick Mahomes era.

Yet Butker is now making headlines for his controversial comments off the field. Here’s a look at what Butker said to spark outrage.

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Harrison Butker commencement speech

At Benedictine College’s commencement ceremony Saturday, Butker spoke out against Pride month and against U.S. President Joe Biden’s leadership on several issues.

Butker referred to LGBTQ+ Pride month, mentioning “the deadly sins sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it” while adding that he preferred “God-centered pride.”

And when addressing the women graduating from the college, Butker had pointed words about their options as they embark on the world.

“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.”

Butker praised his wife, Isabelle, explaining that he is “able to be the man that I am” because his wife has taken on a role as a homemaker. He also encouraged men graduating from the college to “be unapologetic in [their] masculinity.”

The Chiefs kicker also spoke out against “the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion,” arguing, “We fear speaking truth because now, unfortunately, truth is in the minority.” 

Butker, who has spoken out against abortion in the past, also railed against U.S. policies — including those of Biden, whom he called “delusional” for supporting abortion rights as a Catholic.

The full speech, which lasted more than 20 minutes, has been viewed more than 80,000 times on YouTube as of Tuesday.

Harrison Butker Taylor Swift comments

Butker quoted a Taylor Swift lyric during his commencement speech, referring to the pop star as “my teammate’s girlfriend.”

“As my teammate’s girlfriend says, ‘familiarity breeds contempt,'” Butker said. The lyric comes from Swift’s 2022 song, “Bejeweled,” which references the well-known phrase.

Butker was referring to religion at the time, as he prefaced the line with criticism of some priests for what he believes is too close of a relationship between themselves and their parishioners.

“Tragically, so many priests revolve much of their happiness from the adulation they receive from their parishioners. And in searching for this, they let their guard down and become overly familiar,” Butker said before dropping in the Swift reference. 

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Harrison Butker religion

Butker is openly Catholic and has been vocal about his support for traditional Catholicism, including Latin Mass. 

The 28-year-old has also spoken out against abortion rights in recent years. When the Chiefs visited the White House to celebrate their Super Bowl 57 win in 2023, Butker wore a tie with a Latin phrase that translates to, “Protect the most vulnerable.”

The Chiefs will likely visit the White House again in 2024 after winning another Super Bowl, pending Biden’s campaign schedule. That could set the stage for an interesting dynamic if Butker attends.

Where is Benedictine College?

Benedictine College is located in Atchison, Kansas. The campus is an about an hour drive away from Kansas City.

Benedictine is a small, Catholic liberal arts college with just over 2,000 undergraduate students. Catholic Mass is frequently celebrated on Benedictine’s campus.

Benedictine also features St. Benedict’s Abbey, which houses dozens of practicing monks, as well as Mount St. Scholastica Monastery, which is home to practicing nuns.

The 2023 commencement address at Benedictine College was delivered by Leonard Leo, chairman of the board of the directors at the conservative-leaning Federalist Society, a legal organization that produced five current U.S. Supreme Court Justices.

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Where did Harrison Butker go to college?

Butker didn’t attend Benedictine College, which competes at the NAIA level in sports. The Chiefs kicker spent his college career at NCAA Division I program Georgia Tech before the Panthers selected him in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

Butker was born and raised in Georgia, so he stayed in the Atlanta area by joining coach Paul Johnson and the Yellow Jackets. The local product made just 71.7% of his field goal attempts at Georgia Tech, but he put together his best season as a senior, when he finished 15-of-17. 

That was enough to get Butker an opportunity in Carolina and then a long stay with the Chiefs. Now he’s a three-time Super Bowl champion and one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history — albeit one who comes with some controversy.

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