Kansas City Chiefs team president Mark Donovan admits that he doesn’t “necessarily agree” with kicker Harrison Butker’s outspoken conservative views but added that it comes down to a matter of “respect” in the locker room.
Speaking to Variety on Thursday, Donovan said he has to respect Butker’s right to have his views.
“You’ve got to think of it from the perspective of a team and a locker room,” Donovan told the magazine. “In our locker room, like any family, there are people with different opinions. And one of the things we preach is respect. So, I respect Harrison’s views. I don’t necessarily agree with him. He has to respect that I don’t necessarily agree with him, and we’ve got to communicate that. And that was one of the things we talked about, and he was very supportive of that.”
He added that this high caliber of respect is a “positive” aspect of the Chiefs locker room.
“It is utilized in almost every situation that we deal with in a positive way. Make a decision based on respect. We’ve had issues in the past in the locker room with guys — not to get political, but to get political, there are guys with a Black Lives Matter hat and a Make America Great Again hat in the locker next to him. You can believe those things, which may be different in some ways, but you’re going to play together, and you’re going to respect each other,” Donovan explained.
Donovan is not the first member of the Chiefs executive suite to defend Butker. Also this week, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt noted that Butker has a right to his beliefs and political activism.
“One of the things I talk to the players every year about at training camp is using their platform to make a difference,” the 59-year-old billionaire said on Wednesday. “We have players on both sides of the political spectrum, both sides of whatever controversial issue you want to bring up. I’m not at all concerned when our players use their platform to make a difference.”
The Chiefs kicker became a target of left-wingers on social media after he gave a commencement speech in May to graduates at his alma mater, Benedictine College.
At the time, Butker told female graduates not to forgo having a family as they pursue a career and told males to be proud of their masculinity. He also spoke in support of pro-life and pro-Catholic ideals.
The commencement address caused leftists to launch a campaign to force the Chiefs to fire Butker, and he was dragged through the mud on social media by Democrats and celebrities alike.
Butker, though, has refused to back down from his personal views and even went a step further this month by endorsing Donald Trump because Trump has the strongest pro-life views of any candidate for president.
Butker also debuted his UPRIGHT PAC last week alongside Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.
The Super Bowl-winning kicker’s beliefs and outspoken political activism have put him in the crosshairs of Taylor Swift fans, who have targeted him for personal destruction.
The Chiefs owner, though, did not criticize Swift or her fans for attacking Butker. On the contrary, he has praised Swift and her fans and said that the pop star has brought many new fans to the NFL and that he appreciates her support.
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