Kansas City Chiefs player Harrison Butker caused an uproar last week when he delivered a commencement speech at Benedictine College describing Pride Month as the embodiment of “the deadly sins” and telling women graduates that the “most important title” in their lives will be “homemaker.” While various people, including Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, said they disagree with Butker, fans have been waiting for notable teammate Travis Kelce to weigh in.
On Friday, Kelce finally responded on his and his brother Jason’s podcast, New Heights. He said that while he doesn’t agree with “just about any” of Butker’s views, he does “cherish him as a teammate.” Kelce said Butker “is every bit of a great person and a great teammate,” but “when it comes down to his views and what he said at Saint Benedict’s commencement speech, those are his. 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.”
Though Kelce didn’t comment on specific details from Butker’s speech, in what seemed like a subtle nod to it, he pointed out that his own mother, Donna, provided for the Kelce family alongside his father. “Both my mother and my father made home what it was. So they were homemakers and they were providers and they were unbelievable at being present every single day in my life. That was a beautiful upbringing for me.”
Kelce also said that he doesn’t feel like he can judge Butker’s religious views because “that’s just not who I am.” He added that growing up in diverse Cleveland Heights, Ohio, “showed me a broad spectrum, just a broad view of a lot of different walks of life” and taught him to appreciate diversity. “I never once had to feel like I needed to judge them, based off of their beliefs.”
