Harrison Butker addresses his viral speech comments from offseason: 'I stand behind what I said'

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker said Wednesday he stands by his comments from back in May when he gave a commencement speech at Benedictine College and told the women receiving degrees that he’d venture to guess “the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”

Butker said his opinion has not changed based on the feedback he has received since then, though he “respected all the viewpoints.”

“No, and I’ve appreciated all the feedback,” Butker said. “I know when it comes to football, I don’t really look at the comments, good or bad, towards me. But with it being the offseason and stating a lot of these things, I was really curious as to what people would be saying back to me and I respected all the viewpoints. But in terms of what I said, I prayed about it, and I thought about it, and I was very intentional with what I said, and I stand behind what I said.

“I really believe if people knew me as a person and understood that I was coming from a place of love and not a place of trying to attack or put people down that I only want the best for people and that’s what I was trying to say. I think that the people that were in that gymnasium all understood what I was trying to say.”

Harrison Butker speaks his mind at Catholic school commencement speech

Butker, who spoke for more than 20 minutes at the Catholic school in Atchison, Kansas, said that women have had the “most diabolical lies told to you.”

“I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” Butker said. “How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? 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.”

The 29-year-old, three-time Super Bowl champion assailed against Pride Month as well as President Joe Biden’s stance on abortion and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the Sign of The Cross during a pro-abortion rally,” Butker said. “He has been so vocal in his support of the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people, it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.”

Harrison Butker further explains comments from Catholic school commencement speech

Butker further expounded on his previous comments, saying he believes his words were “construed” that he was “trying to put women down which I’m not at all.” He talked about his wife, Isabelle, and praised her for being the “ultimate wife and ultimate mother.”

“My whole career I’ve talked about how I’m a husband and I’m a father before it comes to me as a kicker,” Butker said. “That’s something I’ve always preached. But then when I use that to talk about women and I say that they should embrace and love being wives and being mothers over their career, I think then it gets construed that I am trying to put women down which I’m not at all. I love women, I love my wife, and it comes from a place of love. You know, my wife had never heard me speak publicly and she was there for that moment, and she was up in the background in one of the offices up there and I was getting emotional looking at her crying and understanding that she has sacrificed so much for me.

“She has completely changed her life around and she has made sure she is focused on being the ultimate wife and the ultimate mother and I love her so much for that. I see how happy and excited she is day-to-day to wake up and embrace that life. She pushes me to be a better husband and a better father and focus on my three children and focus on her than maybe trying to be the best kicker I can be out on that field.”

Butker is entering his eighth season with the Chiefs. Kansas City awarded him this offseason with a four-year, $24 million contract extension, making him the league’s highest-paid kicker.