Another reason to celebrate! Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker recently got a great reason to cherish his moment. And that’s definitely not a field goal this time. It’s his new baby!
Last week, during an interview with Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Harrison Butker subtly confirmed that he and his wife, Isabelle Butker, are parents to three children now—the Kansas City Chiefs kicker didn’t reveal the name, gender, or birth date of the child. However, speculations are rife that the birth took place in October. Nevertheless, it is big news in the NFL circuit and not long after Butker’s confirmation, congratulatory messages started pouring in with KC Chiefs owner Clark Hunt’s wife Tavia Hunt, also chiming in.
Hunt reshared a post from Focus on the Family congratulating the couple on her IG story, and wrote : “Congrats Isabelle & Harrison Butker (tagging the player’s Instagram profile).” Along with this caption, the former Miss Kansas USA shared a confetti ball and prayer emojis, giving her message an celebratory touch on the couple’s third child.
For the unversed: Harrison Butker also shares a 5-year-old son James (born in 2019), and a daughter (whose identity is not yet revealed) with his wife, Isabelle. The couple got married in 2018 after getting engaged the year prior. The couple mostly keeps their private life hidden, with Isabelle not even having any social media presence.
As per reports, the mother of three was an athlete herself, playing basketball up until 2016 when she graduated. As per her Rhodes College profile, she played in 26 games and averaged seven minutes per game. In February 2014, she scored a career high six rebounds in a 80-54 win over Oglethorpe University, and scored a season best four points against the University of Texas in March that year. However, since then the former athlete has now taken up the role of a homemaker—a term that’s garnered ample controversy and criticism in Butker’s life…
During a commencement speech to the Class of 2024 at the Benedectine College (a Catholic institution in Kansas) in May this year, Butker had said, “I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you, how many of you are sitting here now about to cross the stage, and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you’re going to get in your career,” before adding, “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world. But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”
The NFL player also mentioned his wife and said, “I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.
I’m on this stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me. But it cannot be overstated, that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker. She’s a primary educator to our children. She’s the one who ensures I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father.”
Despite the intense backlash over the speech which may deemed as misogynistic, Butker has continued to defend his stance…
Harrison Butker’s speech was reportedly not meant to offend women
Serena Williams was one of the personalities who came forward to issue a response to Butker. Serena and her sister Venus were addressing the crowd at this year’s EPSY Awards when the latter remarked, “So go ahead and enjoy women’s sports like you would any other sports because they are sports.”
However, the 23-time-Grand Slam winner stole the show with her dig: “Except for you Harrison Butker, we don’t need you,” which prompted their co-host to add, “At all. Like ever,” inducing a fit of laughter from the audience.
Singer-songwriter Katy Perry, on the other hand, took it up a notch when she uploaded a heavily edited version of Butker’s speech on Instagram on June 1. The modified video sounded like the NFL kicker was praising female for their careers and promoting “diversity, equity and inclusion”, while wishing everyone a Happy Pride Month. Perry captioned the video: “Fixed this for my girls, my graduates, and my gays — you can do anything…Congratulations and happy pride.”
The Hunt family also chimed in with their opinions with Tavia Hunt uploading a horde of throwback photos alongside her daughters Ava and Gracie, and son Knobel, and writing, “I’ve always encouraged my daughters to be highly educated and chase their dreams…I want them to know that they can do whatever they want (that honors God). But I also want them to know that I believe finding a spouse who loves and honors you as or before himself and raising a family together is one of the greatest blessings this world has to offer.”
However, as per Butker, “There’s nothing wrong, there’s nothing shameful if you are a woman and you want to spend time with your family and raise your children.” Further clearing his take, the 29-year-old said after the birth of his third child, “I was trying to speak for so many women that have dedicated their life to being the homemaker. Being the one that raises the children, and it’s a beautiful role. But it’s not a role that should be diminished.”
In addition to that, Harrison Butker expressed that his intentions were to honor women who choose to dedicate themselves to their families. Diving deep into the context, on The Ingraham Angle show, Butker clarified, “It’s more talking about how beautiful it is for women to maybe just step aside and prioritize their family and spend time with their children and raise their family. And that’s what I was just trying to speak love about.”
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