Travis Kelce hints at Harrison Butker's potential position change amid commencement speech controversy
Travis Kelce spoke on how Harrison Butker's role might change within the Kansas City Chiefs this season. But that has nothing to do with his ongoing commencement speech controversy.
The Chiefs kicker made some contrasting comments on "woman" and the "LGBTQ" community that got him into headlines for the wrong reasons. Even though the controversy isn't as hot as it was earlier, things might just have gotten tougher for Butker.
In an episode of the New Heights podcast, Kelce elaborated on how the Chiefs are considering changing Butker's role in the team. The reason behind it is the new NFL kickoff rules that will be in effect starting this season.
"The Chiefs have considered not using Harrison Butker for all kickoffs. Obviously, it's not because Harrison can't do it. He's one of the best guys in the league at doing it, he's got the best legs in the game. He typically kicks it into the stands, through the end zone when he does kick off," Travis Kelce said.
According to the new kickoff rules, each player that is on the kicking team, excluding the kicker, will now have to line up with at least one foot on the 40-yard line of the returning team. In the 'setup zone', a minimum of nine players from the returning team will be lining up in the beginning.
Their position will be five yards opposite their own 35-yard line to the 30-yard line of the opposite team. In the 'landing zone', i.e. the area between the 20-yard line and the goal line, only two returners are allowed.
With the new rules, kickoff returns now become more important, enabling the kickers to be more involved with tackling.
According to Travis Kelce, the Chiefs don't want to put Harrison Butker in such situations. Instead of Butker, the Chiefs are looking to use Justin Reid as a kicker, considering he's great at tackling as well.
Travis Kelce on Chiefs considering Justin Reid for Harrison Butker's role
Later in the podcast, Travis Kelce elaborated on how he thinks the Chiefs are looking to use Justin Reid in Butker's role.
Talking about the same, the Chiefs tight end said:
"I think he's considering this because we have a guy, Justin Reid, who's kicked a field goal before. He has a great leg and he just so happens to be one of our best tacklers on the team. So, I think he's considering letting Justin Reid do it."
Kelce concluded by stating that he's happy with the new rules making kickoffs more meaningful. As for Harrison Butker, if the Chiefs are indeed going with Justin Reid, it'll be interesting to see how his role changes.