Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid defended Harrison Butker and said, “If Harrison goes, I go with him.”
On May 18, 2024, X user @ArdorNew posted a screenshot claiming Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid released a statement defending the team’s kicker, Harrison Butker, who faced some backlash following his May 11 commencement speech at Kansas’ Benedictine College, a private Catholic liberal arts school.
According to the post, Reid said he would consider retiring if the Chiefs decided to fire Butker from the team for delivering the speech. “If Harrison goes, I go with him,” Reid supposedly said.
Andy Reed [sic] let the Chiefs organization know where he stands when he heard rumors that they were planning to fire Harrison Butker.
“You let the Kelce sideshow keep going even after he screamed at me on the field. Not this time. This is where I draw the line.”
Reed said he’s not concerned with breaking his contract. “I’m due to retire, if that’s what it takes.”
Andy Reed Stands Behind Harrison Butker: “If Harrison Goes, I Go with Him”
A different Facebook page in the same satire and parody network also posted an alternative version of this same meme. The America’s Last Line of Defense Facebook page posted the second meme claiming Reid said of Butker, “I’m not losing a great kicker to this whole woke thing. Not on my watch.” Additionally, the second meme featured the purported Reid quote, “If they get rid of Harrison, they get rid of me.”
According to the Kansas City Star, the Chiefs had not yet issued an official team response regarding Butker’s speech. We also found no trace of Reid releasing a statement.
For further reading, we previously reported on another fake quote originating from a different satirical Facebook page claiming Butker made subsequent remarks in response to the backlash he received following his speech.
Chiefs’ Andy Reid Defends Harrison Butker for Controversial Speech
Andy Reid is weighing in on Harrison Butker‘s eyebrow-raising remarks.
Amid the controversy over the Kansas City Chiefs kicker’s polarizing commencement speech at Benedictine College May 11, his coach expressed that the athlete has the right to say what he believes in.
“Everybody’s got their own opinion,” Reid said during a May 22 press conference. “And that’s what’s so great about this country, you could share those things, and you work through it.”
As the three-time Super Bowl winning coach pointed out, the Chiefs are a “microcosm of life,” with players coming from “different areas, different religions, different races.”
“We all get along, we all respect each other’s opinions,” he continued, “and not necessarily do we go by those, but we respect everybody to have a voice.”
As for Butker’s comments on the role of women—with him suggesting that women “are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world”—Reid noted that Harrison likely didn’t have any bad intentions by it.
“I don’t think he was speaking ill of women,” he said. “He has his opinions, and we all respect that. I let you guys in this room and you have a lot of opinions that I don’t like.”
The 66-year-old also said he didn’t feel a need to address the speech with Butker, reiterating that “a great thing about America” is that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and he wishes “that everybody could kind of follow that.”
The 28-year-old has yet to comment on the growing backlash to his controversial speech, during which he also touched on topics like abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
And Reid isn’t the only one who has come to his defense.
Everybody Loves Raymond actress Patricia Heaton also thinks that Harrison is entitled to his opinion, saying in a May 18 Instagram video, “He’s not a monster for stating what he believes.”
Her words echoed Whoopi Goldberg‘s perspective.
“I like when people say what they need to say—he’s at a Catholic College, he’s a staunch Catholic,” she told her co-hosts on The View’s May 16 episode. “These are his beliefs and he’s welcome to him. I don’t have to believe them, right? I don’t have to accept them. The ladies that were sitting in that audience do not have to accept them.”
Curious to see what other stars have said about the controversy? Keep reading.
Maren Morris
Maria Shriver
Patricia Heaton
Whoopi Goldberg
Patrick Mahomes
Andy Reid
Bill Maher
Tavia and Gracie Hunt
Roger Goodell
