by Declan Rooney ’25

Harrison Butker, the starting kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, delivered a 20 minute commencement speech at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, during which he took the opportunity to spread sexism among other deeply ignorant views. “I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” said Butker during the speech. This was just one of the many ignorant things Butker said during his speech to the graduating seniors and their familes. Butker also denounced abortion rights, LGBTQ pride, and COVID-19 lockdowns during his rambling. 

In response, the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs both declined to comment other than the usual statement to be “steadfast in our commitment to inclusion.” This kind of meek stance on insensitive statements by one of its most prominent players is woefully inadequate. Not only is the NFL potentially harming its brand, the league also is demonstrating hypocrisy. This freedom of expression was not afforded to Colin Kapernick back in 2016, when the NFL essentially kicked him out of the league for kneeling during the national anthem. The NFL needs to take a stronger stand against their players spewing bigotry and misogyny.