The American football kicker Harrison Butker, who plays for Kansas City Chiefs, has sparked controversy worldwide for his commencement speech given at Benedectine college.

Harrison Butker, 28, was raised in Georgia as a devoted Catholic and expressed his views on abortion, women’s careers, COVID lockdown and even called pride month a deadly sin. 

The three time superbowl champion is married to wife, Isabelle Butker, who he mentioned in his speech as having to give up her dream career to become a mother, where she would be most fulfilled. 

This speech was given at Benedictine college, a small private college in Atchison, Kansas and was established in 1971. It is a Catholic liberal arts college and holds 2,073 undergraduate students. 

Harrison Butker praised the school in his speech for its Catholic base, but did not attend the school as he went to Georgia Institute of Technology where he played college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. 

Butker is the all-time leading scorer in the school’s history and was a captain of the team for his senior season before being selected by the Carolina Panthers on a four-year contract in 2017.

However, his contract was waived by the end of 2017 before going to join Kansas City Chiefs where he remains to this day. His team are yet to make a statement on Butker’s controversial statements, however many fans are disappointed by the comments.

This controversy was fuelled by Butker’s reference to his teammate Travis Kelce’s association to singer Taylor Swift. He quoted Taylor Swift in his speech, however referred to her as “my teammates girlfriend” rather than by her own profession, which caused the ‘Swifties’ to storm his social media comments with hate.

One user wrote: “I hope you get fired” with another calling him “the smallest man who ever lived” in reference to Taylor Swift’s latest song, released in 2024. 

The NFL have spoken out about his comments, and have distanced themselves from Butker in a statement saying “his views are not those of the NFL as an organization”. 

Although the fans of American football, and women all around the world, are still not satisfied and a petition started by Change.org has been started in a demand for the Kansas City Chiefs to dismiss Butker for his comments. 

The petition has gone viral with over 70,000 signatures already, and Butker’s future at the club remains uncertain. 

To watch the members of Werk react to this speech, click here.