Chiefs HC Andy Reid doubles down on his support of Harrison Butker: “Trying to make people around him better”
Harrison Butker shook the football world with his commencement speech at the Benedictine College last month. The Kansas City Chiefs kicker faced a ton of backlash, but Chiefs head coach Andy Reid stuck by him. Now, fresh off their visit to the White House, the HC has reiterated his support for the controversial kicker.
Reid drafted Butker in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Since then, the Georgia Tech graduate has been instrumental in Reid’s success with the Chiefs. Hence, even after Butker’s commencement speech, which allegedly targeted women and the LGBTQ+ community, Reid has stuck by him. The three-time Super Bowl-winning coach said to the media on this issue:
“We all get along; we all respect each other's opinions. And not necessarily do we go by those. But we respect everybody to have a voice.”
The 66-year-old appeared on the "Y’s Guys" podcast on Wednesday and doubled down on his support of Harrison Butker, saying:
“I'm lucky to know these guys personally. I know Harrison Butker, I know what a fine person he is, and I think he has a belief, as we all do, and we're all a little different.”
“But that's what makes this world go around, but if you really reach down into the core of him, he's a fine person, and so whether you agree with him or disagree with him, there's a core there that is trying to make people around him better including himself.” [07:23 – 07:57]
Kansas City's star quarterback Patrick Mahomes has also voiced his support of Harrison Butker. While tight end Travis Kelce has remained neutral on the debate but still supported his teammate’s freedom of expression. On an episode of his “New Heights” podcast, Kelce said:
“I can’t say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it outside of just him loving his family and his kids and I don’t think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life. That’s just not who I am.”
Harrison Butker, just like Andy Reid, has doubled down
Multiple celebrities outside the football world came after Harrison Butker. However, the three-time Super Bowl champion stuck to his guns. In a gala event after the blowback, he said:
“The more I’ve talked about what I value most, my Catholic faith, the more polarizing I’ve become," Butker said. "It’s a decision I’ve consciously made, and one I do not regret at all.”
As the Chiefs mount their campaign to defend their two back-to-back Super Bowl crowns on September 8 against the Baltimore Ravens, all eyes will be on Harrison Butker.