The Kansas City Chiefs signed Harrison Butker to a four-year, $25.6 million extension on Monday, making him the highest paid kicker in the NFL.
And unsurprisingly, there were takes, one of which came from ex-ESPN host Trey Wingo, who took the opportunity to share what he thinks Butker’s new deal says about the NFL.
“The Harrison Butker extension… making him the highest paid kicker….underscores the inherent truth of the NFL: the better you are at the job the more a team is willing to put up with pure and simple,” the former NFL Live host posted to X.
The Harrison Butker extension… making him the highest paid kicker….underscores the inherent truth of the NFL: the better you are at the job the more a team is willing to put up with pure and simple.
— trey wingo (@wingoz) August 5, 2024
Obviously, Wingo’s post comes in reference to the controversy that Butker generated this past offseason when he gave a commencement speech at Benedictine College, which many considered to be misogynistic, homophobic and antisemitic. The three-time Super Bowl champion’s comments have made him a pariah to the left and a cult hero to the right and it isn’t difficult to see where Wingo falls on that scale.
But considering Butker’s polarizing nature, it was hardly surprising to see many take issue with the former ESPN host implying that Butker’s personal beliefs qualify as a distraction for the Chiefs.
holy shit we can’t be doing this again. there are teams “putting up” with much worse—like actual criminals, not a guy who just believes differently than you do.
putting up with someone’s religious beliefs so they can kick a football, so very heroic of the chiefs. https://t.co/InUW5P0J1i
— megañ (@3×5) August 6, 2024
There’s domestic violence and drug use every other day in the NFL but I guess it’s really tough to “put up with” a Catholic guy who loves his wife and God. https://t.co/rt8qr67ai4
— Meghan Maureen (@Keggs719) August 6, 2024
What are they putting up with…? Values? lol
What a horseshit take! Those coaches and his teammates love him
They ain’t “putting” up w anything. They are blessed to have him. Maybe if you had some character and values you’d still be employed https://t.co/rEHjUtB0Tq— Paul Grasmanis (@PaulGrasmanis) August 5, 2024
So teams now have to “put up with” players that believe in traditional family values….
— Luke McCown (@luke_mccown) August 6, 2024
What exactly are they putting up with? I never saw a tweet like this from trey wingo when tyreek hill got extended or Deshaun Watson got the most guaranteed money in NFL history. https://t.co/yxrOWj67uz
— Josh👑 (@ChiefInSD) August 5, 2024
Ultimately, there are some valid criticisms of Wingo’s post. Regardless of where you stand on Butker’s comments — chalking them up to “traditional family values” conveniently ignores the antisemitic innuendo in the speech — there are far more egregious examples of teams showing a willingness of putting up with distractions than the Chiefs standing by Butker.
Conversely, whether you agree with them or not, Butker’s comments were undeniably a distraction, as it’s not often NFL teams — let alone the defending Super Bowl champions — spend an offseason answering questions about what their kicker said. And while there was never any indication that Kansas City was consdering moving on from him, it’s not inconceivable that it might have been a different conversation if Butker wasn’t as reliable on the field as he is.
It’s unclear whether that’s what Wingo was trying to get at. But intentionally or not, both his post and the ensuing reaction to it seemingly prove his point — even if there are far better examples he could have used in this last offseason alone.
