Image by Harrison Butker via Instagram
CV NEWS FEED // Christians on X are rallying behind Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker for his commencement speech at a Catholic college in Kansas, especially after his remarks were met with backlash from the NFL and secular media.
Butker encouraged the Benedictine College graduates on May 12 “to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic,” as CatholicVote previously reported.
In the speech, he condemned abortion, in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, “Pride month,” and euthanasia. He also spoke of his love for the traditional Latin Mass and the importance of living out one’s vocation according to God’s will to become a saint.
His address went viral and was met with vocal criticism from people who took offense at his words. In response to the backlash, many Catholics and conservatives on X have since been expressing their support of the commencement address.
Additionally, College Football Hall of Fame Coach Lou Holtz expressed his support for Butker’s speech.
“Thank you [Harrison Butker] for standing strong in your faith values,” Holtz wrote on his X account. “Your commencement speech at Benedictine College showed courage and conviction and I admire that. Don’t give in.”
Holtz also included a link to a statement that he made in support of Butker. He wrote: “Sign here to thank Super Bowl Champion Harrison Butker, a true man of God.”
Catholic Daily Wire podcast host Michael Knowles wrote in a post on his X account, “[Butker’s speech] is without question, beginning to end, the greatest college commencement speech delivered in my lifetime.”
During his podcast show on May 16, Knowles expanded on his statement and played an excerpt from the speech when Butker spoke about his love for his wife.
“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. I’m on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation,” Butker said, according to a transcript of his speech published by the National Catholic Register.
Butker began to hold back tears as he continued, “I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”
Knowles then said on his show, “The man here is on the verge of tears, pouring out an expression of love for his wife, and the libs and the feminists are accusing him of misogyny–for saying that he loves his wife and [that] she excels in her role as homemaker and a mother and a wife.”
Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie, a member of The Catholic Association, also praised Butker’s speech on her X account, writing:
Lovely speech.
The leftist pearl-clutchers are horrified at the term “homemaker”.
They pretend they don’t know that the West is full of mothers working for money for a random boss in an office or factory when they’d give anything to be home working for love of their children and husband.
On May 15, the NFL gave People Magazine an official statement about Butker’s speech that reads: “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. 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.”
Sean Davis, founder of the online conservative publication The Federalist, slammed the hypocrisy of the NFL’s statement about Butker’s speech.
“The NFL was quicker to condemn Butker for being a Christian than it was to condemn Ray Rice for caving in his fiancee’s head on camera and then dragging her lifeless body through the hall,” he wrote in a post on X.
Clay Travis, an author and lawyer, wrote of the NFL statement on his X account: “The NFL has publicly condemned Harrison Butker’s private political opinions. Has the league ever publicly condemned any other player’s private political opinions or comments for any reason? I can’t recall it.”
A Catholic priest on X, Fr. R. Vierling, posted, “Any statement from the [NFL] on its players convicted of crimes? It seems the only offense for the #NFL is a Roman Catholic man proclaiming Catholic teaching on a Catholic campus before a Catholic audience.”
A petition was formed on Change.org calling for Butker to be dismissed from playing for the Chiefs because of his remarks.
One Catholic account on X, LanguageGeek95, responded to this petition with a post that read: “They’ll say they’re tolerant of your Catholicism until you say you believe what the Church teaches.”
The LOOPCast host Tom Pogasic also responded to the petition, writing on his X account:
So we have to listen to athletes and celebrities lecture us on climate change, transing children, COVID, the evil of white people, Men in women’s sports, and abortion.
But expressing basic Catholic views is a bridge too far.
Got it.
EWTN Digital Media Specialist Christina Herrera responded to the petition similarly, writing on her X account:
We have to listen to celebrities and athletes push/celebrate abortion, pride month, IVF, men purchasing babies via surrogacy, trans surgeries for minors, and other morally reprehensible positions on a regular basis but Catholics can’t offer their point of view?
We aren’t allowed to openly talk about our faith in a Catholic setting? We can’t push back and publicly praise Jesus and His sacraments? We can’t publicly acknowledge the sanctity of Holy Matrimony, motherhood, fatherhood, or any traditional viewpoint? We can’t call a sin a sin?
Suddenly it’s hate speech?
Make it make sense.
In a more ironic tone, Catholic author Jesse Kelly wrote of the commencement controversy on his X account: “Harrison Butker is dead wrong about women and you can tell by how calmly his comments were received. Clearly he insulted some very happy, content people.”
In another X post, Christiana Herrera pointed out: “[I don’t know] who needs to hear this but Butker received a standing ovation from the crowd.”
