Kansas City Chiefs star Chris Jones backs teammate Harrison Butker after controversial speech

Harrison Butker has been supported by a number of high-profile figures in the wake of his controversial commencement address at Benedictine College, including Chiefs teammate Chris Jones

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones has stepped up to defend kicker Harrison Butker following the backlash from his contentious speech at Benedictine College.

Jones showed solidarity with his teammate last Thursday on X, expressing his support by saying: “I love you @buttkicker7 ! My brotha.”

His post was a direct response to a petition demanding Butker’s removal from the Chiefs, which had gathered close to 30,000 signatures at the time. The petition’s support has since surged to 220,000 as of Monday afternoon.

Social media users were quick to praise Jones for his public backing of Butker, who has been criticised for promoting sexist cliches and traditional gender roles in his address. One X user commented, “Chris just gained 1,000,000,000 cool points. Stand up for your boy,” while another posted: “You are now my new favorite Chiefs player and just showed amazing character.”

But Jones isn’t alone in supporting Butker; Gracie Hunt, daughter of Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt, also spoke out. She addressed the three-time Super Bowl champion’s remarks during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.”

“Well, I can only speak from my own experience, which is I’ve had the most incredible mom who had the ability to stay home and be with us as kids growing up,” she began. “And I understand that there are many women out there who can’t make that decision. But for me and my life, I know it was really formative and in shaping me and my siblings into who we are.”

When asked if she could relate to what Butker was talking about, the Chiefs Heiress responded: “For sure, and I really respect Harrison and his Christian faith and what he’s accomplished on and off the field.”

One day later, Tavia – Clark’s wife and Gracie’s mother – resonated with many of the principles that Butker championed. “I’ve always encouraged my daughters to be highly educated and chase their dreams. I want them to know that they can do whatever they want (that honors God),” she wrote in a lengthy post to Instagram.

“But I also want them to know that I believe finding a spouse who loves and honors you as or before himself and raising a family together is one of the greatest blessings this world has to offer.

“I also caution against taking things out of context,” she added. “Sound bites overlaid with hateful comments are not what we want to model for our children or others. We need more dialogue (and VALUES, IMO) in this country and less hate.”

The NFL has sought to distance itself from the views expressed by Harrison Butker, stating that his beliefs do not align with those of the league.