Patrick Mahomes has broken his silence on his teammate Harrison Butker’s controversial commencement speech. Mahomes was asked about the speech during a press conference on May 22.
“I’ve known Harrison for seven years. And I judge him by the character that he shows every single day, and that’s a good person,” Mahomes said. “That’s someone who cares about the people around him, cares about his family, and wants to make a good impact in society.”
Mahomes stated that NFL locker rooms have “a lot of people from a lot of different areas” in them. He also stated that people on NFL rosters “have a lot of different views on everything.”
JUST IN: Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid and QB Patrick Mahomes strongly defend kicker Harrison Butker for his pro-traditional values speech.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 22, 2024
Reid even shot back after one reporter tried claiming that Butker was speaking “ill” of women.
Mahomes: “I've known [Harrison] for… pic.twitter.com/Lj9Hm8XLCv
Patrick Mahomes Addresses Harrison Butker’s Controversial Commencement Speech
While Mahomes seemed to defend his teammate, he did acknowledge that he didn’t agree with everything in the speech.
“There’s certain things that [Butker] said that I don’t necessarily agree with,” Mahomes said. “I understand the person that he is. And he’s trying to do whatever he can to lead people in the right direction.”
“At the end of the day, we’re gonna come together as a team,” Mahomes continued. “I think that’ll help out… as well as eliminating those distractions outside the building as well.”
When asked to clarify which part of the speech Mahomes didn’t agree with, Mahomes refused to go into detail.
“There’s just certain values that some people emphasize more than others. And there’s just certain things that I didn’t necessarily agree with,” Mahomes replied. “But at the same time, I’m not gonna judge him by that. I judge him by the way he acts every single day.”