Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker has gained far more notoriety over the past few weeks than he has at any other point in his eight-year NFL career. Butker is a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Chiefs and among the most accurate kickers in the

league, but his commencement speech at a Catholic school in Kansas sparked a wave of backlash for its homophobic and sexist content — which Butker has not recanted.

Chiefs teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce uncomfortably addressed Butker’s remarks last month, acknowledging that they did not agree with everything the kicker said at Benedictine College. However, the unceasing drama with Butker and the Chiefs could yet escalate further — if fans of Kelce’s pop star partner have anything to say about it.

Did Butker unknowingly quote “Bejeweled”?

Keen listeners to Butker’s speech would have observed that he used a Taylor Swift lyric while condeming Pride Month and career women. He used the phrase “familiarity breeds contempt” — which is a popular saying, but was given new life when Swift incorporated it into the song “Bejeweled” on her 2022 album “Midnights.”

One Swiftie on X (formerly Twitter) called out Butker for the irony of quoting a song about “telling a mediocre man to step aside so she can shine,” given the content of his speech was misogynistic and anti-feminist in nature.

Butker has continued to draw outrage for the commencement address, although it has not endangered his place as the Chiefs’ first-string kicker. Head coach Andy Reid stood by Butker last month when the controversy was at its height, and for Kansas City, it is now a matter of making it to September with a minimum amount of distractions.

Butker being singled out as the kicker whose team doesn’t want to expose him to a traditionally masculine element of the game (tackling) is a fun twist https://t.co/hcBWVfhXVQ

— Zach Segars (@Zach_Segars) May 30, 2024