Kelce Brothers Defend Harrison Butker Comments as Jason Jokes His Wife Should Go Make Him a Sandwich

Jason and Travis Kelce weighed in on Harrison Butker’s controversial commencement speech, stating they didn’t share his views — along with a joke by Jason that had Travis nearly falling out of his chair — but also reiterating that they viewed him as “a great person and a great teammate.”

Butker, a kicker on the Kansas City Chiefs along with Travis, made headlines earlier this month for comments he made during a graduation speech at a Catholic university, including criticizing President Joe Biden, and saying that the female graduates “may go on to lead successful careers in the world” but he “would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world,” calling homemaker “one of the most important titles” a woman can have. Butker, himself a devout Catholic, also criticized gay pride events, in vitro fertilization, surrogate pregnancies, abortion, and other culture issues.

The speech was condemned by some and praised by others, even resulting in a bizarre moment at a recent White House Press Briefing when press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked if Butker would be banned from the White House’s traditional invite for Super Bowl winning teams. The Chiefs’ star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was asked to weigh in, as was Coach Andy Reid, with both saying they might not agree with his views but he was a “good man.”

The Kelce brothers offered their own two cents Friday in the latest episode of their podcast, New Heights.

Travis began his comments by noting he had known Butker — whom he calls “Harry,” even though he might be the only one who does so — for “seven-plus, eight-plus years.”

“I cherish him as a teammate,” he continued. “I think Pat [Mahomes] said it best, where he is every bit of a great person and a great teammate. He’s treated friends and family that I’ve introduced to him with nothing but respect and kindness, and that’s how he treats everyone.”

The younger Kelce brother then addressed the controversy and made it clear he didn’t agree with Butker’s views:

When it comes down to his views, and what he said at the [Benedictine College] commencement speech, those are his. I can’t say I agree with the majority of it, or just about any of it, outside of just him loving his family and his kids. And I don’t think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views, of how to go about life. That’s just not who I am.

I think, I grew up in a beautiful upbringing of different social classes, different religions, different races and ethnicities in Cleveland Heights. That’s why I loved Cleveland Heights for what it was. It showed me a broad spectrum, a broad view of a lot of different walks of life. I appreciated every single one of those people for different reasons and I never once had to feel like I needed to judge them based off their beliefs.

You know, my household, my mother and my father both provided for our family. Both my mother and my father made home what it was. They were homemakers and they were providers and they were unbelievable at being present every single day in my life. I think that was a beautiful upbringing for me. I don’t think everyone should do it the way that my parents did, but I certainly and sure as hell thank my parents and love my parents for being able to provide and making sure that home was what it was, because I’m not the same person without both of them being who they were in my life.

Jason agreed with his brother, adding his own “no doubt” and other comments agreeing with Travis when he spoke about their parents, and saying that it was important to hear from “people who actually know people” instead of just “reacting to comments without ever having met the guy,” so he put more weight in what Butker’s teammates and coach thought.

Jason then noted that there was “no mistake about it” that “a lot of the things he said in his commencement speech are not things that I align myself with,” but there were “always going to be opinions that everybody shares that you’re gonna disagree with,” and what was important was to “learn more about people” from “who they are on a daily basis.”