Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker used a commencement speech at Benedictine College last week to address what he called “diabolical lies” about women’s role in society, arguing the primary life’s work of a woman is raising a family. Since then, everyone from Rich Eisen to Lisa Guerrero to Whoopi Goldberg has weighed in across the sports and media worlds.
Over the weekend, Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder joined the chorus of critics against Butker, talking up the woman-led band opening for Pearl Jam on tour and ripping Butker along the way. Early in Pearl Jam’s set in Las Vegas on Saturday night, Vedder went at Butker, highlighting how he believe Butker’s comments did not add up and calling the kicker a “f***ing p***y.”
“It’s not a graduation speech,” Vedder said. “The irony was that the football player, well, kicker, you see the kicker doesn’t have the pads because he doesn’t tackle anybody or get tackled. But he started, he was telling men, ‘Don’t forget to puff up your chest and be more masculine. Don’t lose your masculinity.’
“The irony was that when he was saying that, he looked like such a f***ing p***y.”
In the speech, Butker took aim not only at “diabolical lies” society tells women, but also President Joe Biden, his “teammate’s girlfriend” Taylor Swift, and the news media organization the Associated Press.
Goldberg is among the only prominent voices to defend Butker, comparing the kicker’s diatribe to the social justice messaging from Colin Kaepernick nearly a decade ago.
The speech quickly became a far bigger talking point than a kicker speaking at a small college typically would, perhaps because the Chiefs are the reigning back-to-back Super Bowl champions. Butker probably didn’t expect one of the biggest rock bands around to chime in, but this story hit the mainstream unexpectedly.
At the same time, if Vedder’s purpose was to talk up the value of treating women well, he probably could have come up with a better name to hurl at Butker.
Given that Butker called out big targets like the media, the president and “society,” it’s all fair game. But unless there’s another commencement speech to give, Butker probably isn’t going to stay in the news too much longer.
