NFL responds after Chiefs player Harrison Butker’s controversial graduation speech goes viral

NFL is speaking out about his comments.

Butker spoke to the 2024 graduates at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, on May 11. In his speech, Butker encouraged women to be homemakers while criticizing IVF, birth control, Pride month and more.In a statement obtained by TODAY.com, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, Jonathan Beane, said the kicker “gave a speech in his personal capacity.”

“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.”

TODAY.com has also reached out to the Chiefs and Butker but did not receive a response.

The three-time Super Bowl champion told women in his 20-minute speech that they were told “the most diabolical lies” before saying that his wife’s life “really started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”

Butker also said Pride month is a “deadly sin sort of pride.” Pride month, typically held in June, is a month dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQ+ community.

The father of two also seemingly criticized birth control and fertility treatments, telling graduates that “there is nothing good about playing God with having children.” Butker also told men to be “unapologetic in your masculinity.”