There is Kirsten Krug, the Kansas City Chiefs’ executive vice-president of administration. She oversees player services and, during the height of the Covid pandemic, ensured the Chiefs were healthy and safe while serving double-duty as one of the club’s infectious control officers. There is Tiffany Morton, an assistant athletic trainer who keeps the players stretched, iced, and taped up so they can maximize on-field performance. There’s also Rosetta Shinault, a security officer who helps keep the peace so the players can do their jobs without incident. These three employees of the Chiefs are just a handful of the many women who keep the organization thriving. They are pieces of the framework that has helped the Chiefs win three Super Bowls in five seasons and allow Harrison Butker to do what he does best: kick a football.
Unfortunately, sometimes Butker also opens his mouth.
The archaic, moronic Chiefs kicker began his commencement address at Benedictine College in Kansas last weekend by stating that he’s been known to speak his mind. Then he proceeded to do just that by belittling any female graduates who might have a scintilla of ambition in the working world: “I want to speak directly to you briefly, because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now, about to cross this stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”
Butker invoked his wife, Isabelle, and applauded her decision to be a “homemaker,” a role he called, “one of the most important titles of all.” For the record, the “homemaker” title has largely been put to pasture since the 1960s. There, of course, is nothing wrong with the role, which requires all sorts of skills. But the modern version is “stay-at-home mom” which refers to the notion that the woman in question made a choice to stay home for whatever reason that isn’t our business. And it’s just as valid for a woman to want to lead a fulfilling life beyond her family – if she chooses to have one at all. Butker, by the way, may implode if he also realized the increasing popularity of the stay-at-home dad.
Butker also showed a laughable misunderstanding of pop culture. Referring to Taylor Swift’s lyrics from Bejeweled, he said, “As my teammate’s girlfriend says: ‘Familiarity breeds contempt.’” If you’re using your platform to claim women should stay in the kitchen, maybe find someone more appropriate to quote than literally the most successful career woman on the planet (and one who has also spoken out in support of abortion rights and Pride Month, subjects that Butker also attacked in his speech).
It would be easy to become another voice calling for Butker’s head. But he’s entitled to his backward looking opinions, which are shared by millions of Americans, and plenty of professional athletes.
And, in a way, Butker’s comments are cause for celebration. His words were so asinine that they served as a reminder of the beauty that is progress. Specifically, the continued and intentional growth of women working in the NFL. Not just at the Chiefs. Not just in entry level roles. For all of the horrific behavior toward women the NFL has let slide – Butker is low on that totem pole of how some of the league’s players have treated women – it has invested heavily in women over the past decade. It’s been eight years since the NFL hosted its first Women’s Careers in Football Forum, and the pipeline for women seeking jobs in coaching, scouting and football administration is real and grows stronger each year, The league now has 12 women in full-season coaching positions, a 141% increase over the past four years.
This #InternationalWomensDay, we're celebrating the coaches who are breaking barriers and growing the game. 💪🏈 pic.twitter.com/tv6Ig0IhNq
— NFL (@NFL) March 8, 2024
That’s just coaches. Women are pursuing careers in all aspects of football because they see the reality. They see female officials. There are female analysts, dietitians, executives and scouts. They are entering football administration roles and trainer roles in college with the knowledge that they have the opportunity to reach the highest levels in the professional game. And the players they interact with enter the league believing and knowing that having women in these roles is normal.
In addition, the NFL has made a concerted effort to reach out to the LGBTQ community. The NFL’s chief diversity officer, Jonathan Beane, quickly distanced the league from Butker’s comments: “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization,” Beane told Outsports. “The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
In recent years the NFL has created a Pride apparel line, hosted Super Bowl Pride parties, along with employee LGBTQ events. Butker may be horrified to learn that a gay woman, Sam Rapoport, is the visionary behind the NFL’s pipeline for women. Now the NFL’s senior director of diversity, equity and inclusion, Rapoport isn’t going anywhere, which means the NFL is only going to get more diverse.
The league is no longer populated by crotchety old white dudes. Women have careers in the NFL. They watch the NFL. They buy NFL paraphernalia. Some women are playing as flag-football becomes a sanctioned high school sport in more states each year. And many, many women are working hard in Kansas City to make Butker’s jobs easier. He should be thanking them, not telling the world they should be at home making him a sandwich.
