Harrison Butker and Pearl Jam (Photo via AdamZagoria/Twitter)
Harrison Butker, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker, delivered a contentious speech at Benedictine College that is still being criticized.Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam, made a powerful statement regarding Butker’s graduation address to a packed
house at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday.“While I have your attention,” Vedder starts, “Can we please raise our voices, clap our hands, and show our appreciation for the first group to be on the stage tonight, Deep Sea Diver?“That’s some
good men and good women making up a great band. The singer, Jessica, and the keyboard player, Patti, they must not have believed that ‘diabolical lie’ that women should take pride in taking a back seat to their man.”“I get that could be for some people, and there should be pride in homemaking whether you’re a man or a woman. It’s definitely one of the hardest jobs, and you should definitely take pride in it,” he said. “But you shouldn’t not follow a dream because you think that you’re going to benefit by giving up your dreams? I couldn’t understand the logic. So I’m questioning it in public right now.”
“The irony was that this football player … was telling men, don’t forget to puff up your chest and be more masculine. Don’t lose your masculinity,” Vedder said. “The irony is that when he was saying that, he looked like such a pu–y.”
“There’s nothing more masculine than a strong man supporting a strong woman,” he then said to cheers from the crowd.
“People of quality do not fear equality,” he added.
The NFL has already distanced itself from the three-time Super Bowl champion’s comments. “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization,” Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, told People. “The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”
Butker attacked COVID-19 lockdowns, Pride Month, abortion rights, and “the tyranny of diversity, equity, and inclusion” in his address. Men should “fight against the cultural emasculation of men,” he added.
Additionally, he advised the female graduates to be “most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world” and that being a “homemaker” would be the “most important” career they could have.
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Butker has faced some blowback for his speech, but he has not come out and apologized for anything he has said, which leads you to believe that he truly meant it and that the backlash does not bother him in the least bit.
