Hall of Famer Tony Dungy talks Harrison Butker backlash
Tony Dungy discusses the backlash Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker received for his faith-based speech on OutKick's "Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich."
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker found himself dealing with a whirlwind of criticism in the offseason for his faith-based commencement speech at Benedictine College.
Butker urged female graduates to embrace being a "homemaker" and criticized the LGBTQ community and President Biden for his stance on abortion. He added, "[T]hings like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for the degenerate cultural values and media all stem from pervasiveness of disorder."
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Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker celebrates after scoring against the Chicago Bears on Aug. 22, 2024. (Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports)
Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy said in an interview on OutKick’s "Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich" that he thought critics misinterpreted what he said.
"I thought it was taken totally out of context … if you listen to what he was saying there wasn’t anything to be offended by," Dungy said. "He said a lot of these ladies are going to have great careers, but some of them and many of them might find that their most meaningful thing in life is parenting, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that.
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Tony Dungy (Chris Unger/Getty Images/File)
"I’ve done a lot of things and got a lot of accolades that the world would put on you and the most meaningful thing in my life has been parenting. So, I don’t think there was anything wrong with saying that. They probably didn’t like the way he said it, and it was directed, you know, to a cross-cultural audience. I get all of that. He was speaking to a very limited audience in a limited context, and I thought it got taken way out of context."
Dungy understood some of the criticism because of his belief in God and the way he talks about the Bible.
"I don’t think there is necessarily a right way to say it for a lot of people. I’m a Christian, I know that’s why I take heat, and sometimes when you elicit those values and say this is what the Bible says and this is what I stand on, [and if] people don’t believe in the Bible, and they don’t want to hear that, then they are going to be upset," he said.
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker (Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports)
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"But that’s the way I talk, that’s what I stand on, and I think Harrison is the same way. And so if you’re talking about biblical principles, there’s always going to be some people that get offended by that, and they say keep that out of our sport, keep that out of politics, keep your religious beliefs to yourself; and unfortunately for them, I’m not going to do that. So, that comes across as being unlikeable sometimes."
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