NEW YORK — The NFL is distancing itself from Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, saying “his views are not those of the NFL as an organization.”
Butker appeared as a keynote speaker last week at Benedictine Collegea private Catholic liberal arts school in Kansas, and said most female graduates were probably more enthusiastic about getting married and having children.
Butker also said some Catholic leaders were “imposing dangerous gender ideologies on America’s youth.”
“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” Jonathan Beane, NFL senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, said in a statement released Thursday. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in its commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger. »
The three-time Super Bowl champion delivered his speech of approximately 20 minutes Saturday at the school in Atchison, Kansas, located about 60 miles north of Kansas City. He received a standing ovation from graduates and other attendees.
Butker, who has made his conservative Catholic beliefs known, also attacked Pride Montha particularly important time for the LGBTQ+ rights movement, and President Joe Biden’s stance on abortion.
“I think it’s you women who have heard the most evil lies,” Butker added in his speech.
“Some of you may go on to successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are very excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into the world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly began when she began to live her vocation as a wife and mother,” he said.
Butker, 28, said his wife had embraced “one of the most important titles of all.” Household.”
Butker also criticized as derogatory to the Catholic Church an Associated Press article highlighting a evolution towards conservatism in certain parts of the church.
Butker also referred to a “sort of mortal sin pride that a month is devoted to” in an indirect reference to Pride Month. Butker also took aim at Biden’s policies, including his condemnation of The reversal of the Supreme Court of the Roe v. decision. Wade’s 1973 campaign and advocacy for abortion rights – a key issue in the 2024 presidential campaign.
The seventh-round pick out of Georgia Tech in 2017 became one of the NFL’s best kickers, breaking the Chiefs’ franchise record with a 62-yard field goal in 2022. Butker helped them win their first Super Bowl in ’50 years in 2020, added a second Lombardi Trophy in 2023, and he made the field goal that forced overtime in a Super Bowl victory over San Francisco in February.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
News Source : apnews.com
Gn sports
