A Kansas City Star guest columnist wrote that the Kansas City Chiefs should replace three-time Super Bowl-winning kicker Harrison Butker with a woman because they did not like his commencement speech.
Peter Hamm specifically pointed to the part when Butker addressed the women in the audience at Benedictine College in Kansas. Butker said in his faith-speech he was able to speak to the school because his wife leaned into her vocation.
“I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me,” he said. “But it cannot be overstated, that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.
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Harrison Butker, #7 of the Kansas City Chiefs, warms up prior to Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11, 2024 in Las Vegas. ( Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
“She’s a primary educator to our children. She’s the one who ensures I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father. She’s the person that knows me best at my core. And it is through our marriage that, Lord willing, we will both attain salvation.
“I say all of this to you because I have seen it firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God’s will in their life. Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true. But if you ask her today, if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud without hesitation and say, ‘heck no.’”
Because of that, Hamm wrote that Butker should lose his job and named a handful of female kickers who he claimed could replace him.
Hamm prefaced by writing there have been female kickers who have kicked in college – Willamette University’s Liz Heaston, who kicked two extra points in 1997; Ashley Martin, who made three extra points in a game in 2001 for Jacksonville State; Katie Hnida, who became the first woman to kick and score points in an NCAA Division 1-A (now FBS) game for New Mexico; and Vanderbilt’s Sarah Fuller who scored two extra points in 2020.
Vanderbilt Commodores place kicker Sarah Fuller, #32, gives a thumbs up after successfully kicking her second point after attempt during a game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and Tennessee Volunteers in which she became the first female to score a point for a power five conference school on Dec. 12, 2020 at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. (Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Hamm then implored the Chiefs to take a look at University of Manitoba kicker Maya Turner, who was 11-for-14 in six appearances. The Bisons play Canadian football in U Sports in Canada. Her longest make was 48 yards.
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“She may end up ready to kick in the NFL. Is she as good a kicker as Butker, who has the second best all-time field goal success ratio? Not yet,” Hamm wrote. “But she’s got three more years at the college level to keep getting better.
“Harrison Butker is not Patrick Mahomes. He’s a special teams player. That gives him less leverage with the team. They could trade him for a solid kicker, or they could make a statement by signing a woman to kick.
“Liz Heaston, Ashley Martin, Katie Hnida or Sarah Fuller might take a call. Maya Turner would likely give serious thought to an offer.”
New Mexico kicker Kate Hnida, #2, on the sidelines during a game against UCLA at Sam Boyd Stadium. This was the first Division I-A college football game to have a female player on the field. (Gene Lower /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
Thoughts about Butker’s commencement speech aside, the 2023 season was the best year he has had since he joined the Chiefs in the 2017 season.
He was 33-for-35 on field-goal attempts – good for 94.3% of his makes. He made every extra point he attempted. His longest in 2023 was 60 yards.
Butker also made four field goals in Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers, including a 57-yard field goal that set a Super Bowl record. He also tied the game with 3 seconds left with a 29-yard field goal.
He kicked the game-winner in Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles and nailed three extra points and a field goal in Super Bowl LIV.
Still, Hamm did not mention any of Butker’s moments that have helped Kansas City become one of the most dominant teams in the NFL. Rather, Hamm urged the Chiefs to look at the National Women’s Soccer League for a replacement.
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“And the farm system for talent is rich. There are more than 300 players on the 14 teams in the National Women’s Soccer League. That’s more than 300 women who are professional ball kickers and don’t currently choose to be stay-at-home housewives. It would be delightful if one of them cost the Kansas City Chiefs kicker his job.”
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