Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has made his feelings on the Harrison Butker controversy very clear.
Reid would have likely expected questions on his star kicker during Wednesday’s meeting with the media following some polarizing statements he made last week.
Butker, a three-time Super Bowl winner with the Chiefs, gave a speech at Benedictine College’s graduation ceremony and encouraged female students to focus on being homemakers, claiming his own wife didn’t find her true calling until she embraced such a role.
There have been calls for the Chiefs to cut the player from their roster; of course, no matter how many signatures the petition attracts, that’s not going to happen.
Meanwhile, Reid has spoken up in Butker’s defense, refusing to condemn what he said.
“Yeah, listen, I talk to Harrison all the time,” he remarked. “I didn’t talk to him about this — I didn’t think we need to. We’re a microcosm of life here. Everybody’s from different areas, different religions, different races and we all get along, we all respect each other’s opinions.
“Not necessarily do we go by those, but we respect everybody to have a voice. It’s the great thing about America, man. We’re just, like I said, a microcosm of that. My wish is that everybody could kind of follow that.”
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Andy Reid Has A Little Something For The Media
Andy Reid was then asked how he would handle persons within the team approaching him with concerns about Butker speaking ill of women.
The HC pointed out that the player did not speak ill of women and simply shared his opinions. He then addressed the room, saying he allows reporters “in here” despite many of them having opinions he dislikes.
Check it out in the video below:
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has also defended Butker, having spoken to reporters on Wednesday too.
“There are certain things he said that I don’t necessarily agree with, but I understand the person he is,” the QB said. “He’s trying to do everything he can to lead people in the right direction and that might not be the same values as I have but at the same time, I’m going to judge him by the character he shows every single day that’s a great person.
“We’ll continue to move along and try to help build each other up to make ourselves better every single day but at the end of the day, we’re going to come together as a team and I think that’ll help out [in] eliminating those distractions outside the building as well.”
It’s been a turbulent offseason for the Chiefs following their second straight Super Bowl win. But they are sticking together.