ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Harrison Butker calls himself an introvert who believes in guarding his privacy. But when Benedictine College, a small Catholic school in rural Kansas, asked him to deliver a commencement speech this past spring, he said he felt compelled to do it, and on his terms.
"I've been in the league now seven years and I do have a platform,'' said Butker, the longtime kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs. "So with that comes people that want me to state what I believe to be very important."
Butker gave a speech on May 11 that he said took months to prepare. His comments were considered anti-gay and sexist. Among other things, Butker criticized Pride Month and said being a homemaker was more valuable for a woman than anything that could be achieved in the workplace.
Butker didn't back down from his comments Wednesday.
"I'm going to stand behind what it is I'm saying,'' Butker said. "I kind of look at the offseason as a little bit of a maybe five-month period where I can just represent me as Harrison Butker as a faithful Catholic. And then obviously when it gets to the season, I try to focus as much as I can on football and not being a distraction for the Chiefs."
Butker's comments didn't go unnoticed by those in the Chiefs' locker room. He said he's had deep conversations with many of his teammates since, with both sides emerging with a better understanding of the other.
"It's been a beautiful thing to see,'' Butker said. "That's what's so special about sports and so special about football. There aren't many sports where you have 50 to 100 guys with a bunch of different beliefs and we're all fighting together to win. So you have a bunch of different personalities, a bunch of different backgrounds, and we're all there together trying to understand each other and realize that, at the end of the day, we have one goal together -- and that's to win football games."
Butker, who has made many clutch kicks in the regular season and playoffs, signed a contract extension this week that makes him the NFL's highest-paid kicker. He has the second-highest field goal percentage in NFL history at 89.1.
Butker's longevity -- he has been with the Chiefs longer than all but four current players, including Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce -- has given him a unique standing in the locker room. Mahomes and Kelce came out after Butker's speech and said that while they didn't agree with many of his views, they respected his right to them and that he was still valued as a teammate.
"For them to be able to publicly say, 'Harrison made all these statements that maybe people don't agree with, but I've seen Harrison for seven years come into work and be someone that is of good character' ... I think that meant a lot to me for them to say that,'' Butker said.
"I want people to know that no matter what I say -- it might be the complete opposite of you -- I'm still going to love you no matter what your opinions are, no matter how different we may be. I'm going to love you and we're going to get along and probably be good friends.''