Leftists are enraged after Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s commencement address at Benedictine College went viral earlier this week, and a petition calling for the Catholic player to be dismissed collected over 100,000 signatures.
Butker, a three-time Super Bowl champion, delivered the commencement address at the Catholic liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas, last weekend. During the address, he pulled no punches, calling out President Joe Biden’s support for abortion and criticizing LGBTQ “Pride month.” A Change.org petition created on Monday now calls on the Chiefs to “Dismiss Harrison Butker for Discriminatory Remarks.”
“The harmful remarks made by Harrison Butker, kicker of the Kansas City Chiefs, during his commencement address at Benedictine College were unacceptable. His comments were sexist, homophobic, anti-trans, anti-abortion and racist,” the petition states. “These dehumanizing remarks against LGBTQ+ individuals, attacks on abortion rights and racial discrimination perpetuate division and undermine human rights.”
The Change.org petition, which has a 150,000-signature goal, has reached over 106,000 signatures as of Thursday morning.
Butker has proven himself to be one of the best kickers in the league. He is currently 2nd in NFL history in all-time field goal percentage at 89.1%, and he led the league in made field goals in 2019.
“Our nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally,” Butker said in the speech.
“He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people, it appears you can be both Catholic and pro-choice,” he added.
At another point in the speech, the kicker called out the “deadly sin sort of pride that has a month dedicated to it” and blasted those “behind the COVID lockdowns, to the people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America,” adding “they all have a glaring thing in common — they are Catholic.”
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“This is an important reminder that being Catholic alone doesn’t cut it,” Butker told the graduating class.
Many people on social media also got riled up over Butker’s advice for the Catholic women who were about to walk across the aisle, telling them that “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.”
The NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer released a statement, distancing the league from Butker’s remarks.
“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” Jonathan Beane told PEOPLE. “His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
