NFL commissioner mentions diversity of league’s figures amid controversy surrounding the Chiefs kicker.

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has been a hot topic of conversation since delivering a commencement speech at a college graduation on May 11.

In the 20-minute speech he gave at Benedictine College – a Catholic liberal arts school in Kansas – Butker urged women to embrace their “vocation” of being a homemaker and dismissed abortion rights and Pride Month, among other things.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell broke his silence on the controversy surrounding Butker’s comments on Wednesday, speaking to the diversity of the league’s many employees.

“We have over 3,000 players. We have executives around the league. They have diversity of opinions and thoughts just like America does. That’s something we treasure,” Goodell said, per Tom Pelissero.

Goodell’s comments come after the NFL issued a formal statement upon Butker’s speech going viral. In that statement, NFL senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer Jonathan Beane said that Butker’s views “are not those of the NFL as an organization” and that the league “is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion.”

Nuns affiliated with the school released a statement as well on May 16, denouncing Butker’s speech.

“The sisters of Mount St. Scholastica do not believe that Harrison Butker’s comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested,” the statement said.

Harrison Butker’s future with Chiefs, NFL

Anyone who wants to see Butker lose his job for his comments will probably be disappointed. Despite the controversial nature of his speech, Butker is among the best kickers in the NFL, a position in which teams often struggle to find consistency.

The Chiefs have not said anything regarding Butker’s speech and may never do so. The franchise certainly isn’t obligated to and what it would include in a statement would be a tricky task to figure out if they plan on keeping Butker employed.

The fact of the matter is that Butker is allowed to have an opinion, just as the troves of people who condemn what he said are allowed to have theirs.

Maybe the Chiefs lost some fans because of Butker’s comments and there’s a possibility it creates some tension among his teammates. Regardless, it’s a topic that doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon and could follow Butker throughout his career.

On the back of their second consecutive Super Bowl victory, the Chiefs have dealt with multiple distractions off the field. Outside of Harrison Butker, Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice faces eight charges stemming from his involvement in a March car crash in Dallas. Rice was also accused of assaulting a photographer outside a nightclub in early May but is expected to have those charges dropped.

This is hardly the first time NFL players have been embroiled in offseason controversy, but it’s always significant news when it involves notable figures on the league’s top team. The Chiefs have time to put these incidents and actions in the past before the start of another title defense.