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Butker sparked widespread outrage with a 20-minute speech at Benedictine College, Kansas, where he directly addressed female graduates and told them to be excited for the ‘vocation’ of being a homemaker, using his wife as an example.
Now, speaking on the latest episode of New Heights, Kelce – who was recording the show from Europe, where he is joining girlfriend Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour – addressed the backlash against his teammate.
‘I cherish him as a teammate. I think Pat (Mahomes – the Chiefs quarterback) said it best where he is every bit of a great person and a great teammate,’ he said.
‘He’s treated family and family that I’ve introduced to him with nothing but respect and kindness. And that’s how he treats everyone.
‘When it comes down to his views and what he said at Saint Benedict’s commencement speech, those are his. 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.
‘I grew up in a beautiful upbringing of different social classes, different religions, different races and ethnicities and that’s why I love Cleveland Heights.
‘It showed me a broad spectrum, a broad view of a lot of different walks of life. I appreciated every single one of these people for different reasons and I never once had to feel that I needed to judge them based off their beliefs.
‘My mother and my father both provided for my family and my mother and my father made home what it was. And they were unbelievable at being present every single day of my life.
‘I think that was a beautiful upbringing for me. Now I don’t think everyone should do it the way my parents did, but I sure as hell thank my parents and love my parents for being able to provide and make home what it was.
‘I’m not the same person without the both of them being who they were in my life.’
Jason Kelce also said he disagrees with Butker but hit out at the level the backlash got to. A petition for Butker to be cut by the Chiefs was signed by thousands.
Responding to Travis, he said: ‘It’s always great to hear from people who really actually know than a bunch of people reaction to comments without having met the guy.
‘I think the teammates reactions, Andy Reid’s reaction – you learn about people on a daily basis. There are always going to be opinions that everybody shares that you are going to disagree with.
‘Make no mistake about it, the things he said in the commencement speech are not things that I align with. But he’s giving a commencement speech at a Catholic university and shocker, it ended up being a very religious speech.
‘To me, I can listen to somebody talk and take great value in it when he is talking about the importance of family and the importance of a great mother – while also acknowledging that not everybody has to be a homemaker if that’s not what they want to do in life.
‘When you listen to somebody, you take in what you like and you listen to other things and say I don’t f***ing like that.’
Jason, who has three young daughters with his wife Kylie, said the situation made him reflect on his role as a father, as well. Jason and Kylie have Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 3 and Bennet, 1.
‘I’ve had so many people ask me what would you do if your daughters had to sit there and listen to someone tell them after they have just earned a degree that they should just go and align to be homemakers.
‘I would say that if my daughters listen to someone tell them what to do, that they should be homemakers, I failed as a dad.’
Travis continued: ‘I go back to my beliefs and my family and how I was brought into the world. My views are never going to be the same as the man next to me.’