Travis Kelce, along with his brother, Jason, has finally broken his silence on his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Harrison Butker’s controversial commencement speech.
During the latest episode of their podcast New Heights, the tight end addressed the elephant in the sports world from his undisclosed European location, asserting, like most of those who have already spoken out, that he does not agree with the kicker’s point of view, but that it doesn’t take away from the fact that he “cherish[es] him as a teammate.”
He credited quarterback Patrick Mahomes with “[saying] it best, where he is every bit of a great person and a great teammate,” and revealed that any time he’s met a member of Travis’ family, “he’s treated [them] with nothing but respect and kindness.”
“When it comes down to his views and what he said at Saint Benedict’s commencement speech, those are his,” he continued. “I can’t say I agree with the majority of it, or just about any of it, outside of just him loving his family and his kids. And I don’t think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views of how to go about life—that’s just not who I am.”
The NFL legend went on to credit his own childhood in Cleveland Heights for his opinion, addressing the “beautiful upbringing of different social classes, different religions, different races and ethnicities” that “showed [him] a broad spectrum, just a broad view of a lot of different walks of life.”
He also pointed to his parents, Donna and Ed Kelce, for “[making] home what it was,” calling them both “homemakers and providers” that “were unbelievable at being present every single day in [his] life.”
“I’m not the same person without both of them being who they were in my life,” he asserted, before Jason offered his own take, too, acknowledging that Butker’s comments came from a speech at a Catholic school, making them not-so-shocking in context.
“…make no mistake about it, a lot of the things he said in his commencement speech are not things that I align myself with,” he said. “[But] there’s always going to be opinions that everybody shares that you’re going to disagree with.”
The former Eagles center was still able to find “great value” in some of Butker’s comments, “like when he’s talking about the importance of family and the importance that a great mother can make,” while pointing out that “not everybody has to be a homemaker if that’s not what they want to do in life.”
There’s “beauty,” the two say, in finding ways to put aside their differences to get the job done. “As long as your North Star is good to your heart and good to others,” he concluded, “I think we’re good.”
