ATCHISON, Kan. (TND) — The NFL has responded to the controversial commencement address made by Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker at Benedictine College on Saturday.
Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity," Jonathan Beane, the NFL's senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, told People in a 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.In his speech, the 28-year-old took aim at working women, the LGBTQ+ community, abortion rights and more.
Butker even used "Bejeweled" by Taylor Swift during his speech to highlight certain religious topics.
"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," he "said. "This undue familiarity will prove to be problematic every time. Because as my teammate's girlfriend says, 'familiarity breeds contempt.'"
Butker also touched on the role he thinks women should play and said most of the female graduates were probably more excited about getting married and having children.
“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” he 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. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” Butker added.He went on to criticize the LGBTQ+ community by saying that Pride Month is "the deadly sin sort of pride that has a month dedicated to it" and attacked some of Biden's policies including abortion and his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique,” he said. “Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values and media all stem from pervasiveness of disorder.”
But even through the criticism, Butker's roughly 20-minute address was met with a standing ovation from graduates and other attendees.
A petition on Change.org is calling "upon the Kansas City Chiefs management to dismiss Harrison Butker immediately for his inappropriate conduct."
The goal is to get 150,000 signatures and creators claim the "comments reinforce harmful stereotypes that threaten social progress. They create a toxic environment that hinders our collective efforts towards equality, diversity and inclusion in society. It is unacceptable for such a public figure to use their platform to foster harm rather than unity."
The Chiefs declined to comment on Butker's commencement address.
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Editor's note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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