NFL
What did Patrick Mahomes say about Harrison Butker’s controversial speech?
The Kansas City Chiefs kicker gave a graduation address at Georgia Tech that encouraged to women to focus on becoming a “homemaker”.
The Kansas City Chiefs were back in the news on Wednesday as the Super Bowl champions kick-started the opening week of OTAs. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes appeared at a press conference as part of the event was asked about comments made by a Chiefs team member.
Kicker Harrison Butker was the the focus of a controversy surrounding comments that he had made during a gradation address at Georgia Tech. Butker gave a 20-minute speech in which he told female graduates that they had been told “the most diabolical lies” about their futures and suggested that they should concentrate on becoming a “homemaker”.
When asked for his take on Butker’s comments, Mahomes distanced himself from his teammates remarks but insisted that he is a “good person” who “wants to make a good impact in society.”
Mahomes continued: “When you’re in the locker room, there’s a lot of people from a lot of different areas of life. They have a lot of different views on everything, and we’re not always going to agree. There are certain things that he said that I don’t necessarily agree with, but I understand the person that he is and he’s trying to do whatever he can to lead people in the right direction.”
What did Patrick Mahomes say about Rashee Rice?
The Chiefs picked up a second successive championship ring at Super Bowl LVIII but their off-season has not been without incident. In additional to the controversy surrounding Butker, offensive tackles Wanya Morris and Chukwuebuka Jason Godrick were recently arrested on charges of marijuana possession and released on bond.
However the most serious of the transgressions may well have been a car crash involving wide receiver Rashee Rice. Back in March Rice was driving a Lambourghini Urus involved in a high-speed hit and run in Dallas, sparking a chain reaction collision. After initially fleeing the scene, Rice met with Dallas police four days later and took responsibility for his part the incident.
When asked about the incident, Mahomes said that Rice needed to learn from his mistakes and added that he has faith in his teammate.
“Obviously, that was a big mistake,” Mahomes said. “But you have to learn from it, make sure it doesn’t happen again and try to do whatever you can to be the best person you can be in society, not only for yourself but for the people around you. And I think he is doing that.”
The Chiefs first game of preseason is scheduled for 10 August, when they meet the Jacksonville Jaguars at Everbank Stadium. After winning three of the last five Super Bowl titles Mahomes and the Chiefs will now set their sights on a historic three-peat, looking to become the first NFL team since Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers (1965-67) to win three consecutive championships.