The Kansas City Star recently sparked controversy by recommending that Harrison Butker, the kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, be replaced in light of his graduating speech at Benedictine College that was based on religion.
Butker implied in his speech that many of the female graduates were probably more thrilled about getting married and starting a family than they were about their scholastic accomplishments. He further denounced certain Catholic officials for allegedly “pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America.”
An original recommendation
The opinion post, written by Peter Hamm, suggested that the Chiefs replace Butker’s comments with a female kicker. Though Butker is one of the best kickers in the NFL, there has been skepticism about the idea of replacing him. Reads the peice,
“For poetic justice after Harrison Butker’s Neanderthal outburst – and because the pipeline of talent is real – the Kansas City Chiefs’ next kicker should be a woman,”
“This is not a joke. It’s not unrealistic. And it would be good for business. Just ask the University of Manitoba how ticket sales were last year. “Millions of American parents who’ve had daughters in soccer over the last 30 years can attest to the fact that girls can kick. And in multiple anecdotal scenarios – injuries, COVID-19 disqualifications and so on – college football coaches have called soccer coaches for help and been told the best prospects were female. In 1997, soccer standout Liz Heaston kicked two extra points for Oregon’s Willamette University Bearcats.”
“Ashley Martin broke the NCAA Division 1 barrier in 2001 as a placekicker for Florida’s Jacksonville State University. Katie Hnida broke the NCAA Division 1-A barrier in 2003, placekicking for the University of New Mexico. Sarah Fuller kicked for Vanderbilt against Missouri in November 2020, making viral waves on social media posts that linked to the nonprofit Play Like A Girl.”
Harrison Butker, the kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, is being distanced by the NFL, which has made it clear that “his views are not those of the NFL as an organization.”