Whether it’s kicking field goals or standing up for what he believes in, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is consistent.
Earlier in the week, the Chiefs made Butker the highest paid kicker in the NFL when they agreed to a four-year, $25.6 million contract extension. Last year, Butker made 33 of 35 field goals and all 38 extra points in the regular season. In the playoffs he made all 11 of his field goals and all eight of his PATs. Then in May he gave a commencement speech at Benedictine that included some thoughts on women and children and work and family.
Butker, who is Catholic, said he stands by his comments.
“I really believe if people knew me as a person and understood that I was coming from a place of love and not a place of trying to attack or put people down, that I only want the best for people,” Butker said Wednesday at training camp in St. Joe, Mo. “That’s what I was trying to say there. I think the people that were in that gymnasium all understood what I was saying.”
Butker said that after his speech many of his teammates have had conversations in the locker room and they’ve grown to understand each other more.
“I think it’s been a beautiful thing to see,” Butker said. “And I think that’s what’s so special about sports and what’s so special about football. There’s not many sports where you have 50 to 100 guys with a bunch of different beliefs and we’re all fighting together to win.
“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.”
No team has been better than that in recent years than the Chiefs, who play their preseason opener at 6 p.m. Saturday at Jacksonville. Butker said he’ll continue to use his platform to say what he believes, but coach Andy Reid said neither that nor the contract will be distractions going forward.
“He’s been in huge situations for us and really come through,” Reid said. “His consistency has been great. This won’t bother him because he’s got that work ethic, and he just sticks to it. It won’t be a distraction at all. Listen, I’m happy for him, happy for the organization, and he’s a heck of a football player — great kicker.”
