Travis Kelce defends Harrison Butker, but disagrees with kicker's controversial comments

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has been the subject of conversation for the past week due to controversial comments made while giving a commencement speech at Benedictine College. Butker said he guessed the graduates were more excited about getting married and having children than pursuing their careers after college, while also criticizing Pride Month, COVID-19 measures, and more.

The speech has been talked about on the news and on social media, and they have made it back to the Chiefs facility. Notable names like head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes have commented on it.

On Friday, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce released the newest episode of their podcast "New Heights." Travis spoke on Butker's commencement speech, saying he believes the kicker is a "great person and a great teammate." Travis did say that he doesn't agree with the comments Butker made.

You can listen to Kelce's comments at the 23:40 mark in the video below:

"When it comes down to his views, and what he said at [Benedictine College's] commencement speech, those are his. I can't say I agree with the majority of it or just about any of it, outside of just him loving his family and his kids," said Kelce.

Travis Kelce doesn't agree with Harrison Butker's controversial comment at commencement speech

Kelce continued, saying that he doesn't feel he should judge Butker based on his views.

"I don't think that I should judge him by his views, especially his religious views of how to go about life, that's just not who I am," said Kelce. "I grew up in a beautiful upbringing of different social classes, different religions, different races and ethnicities in Cleveland Heights, and that's why I love Cleveland Heights for what it was. It showed me a broad spectrum or just a broad view of a lot of different walks of life, and I appreciated every single one of those people for different reasons and I never once had to feel like I needed to judge them based off of their beliefs."

Earlier this week, head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoke about Butker's. controversial comments. Reid said that they "respect each other's opinions" while saying Butker has the right to free speech.

"We respect each other's opinions. Not necessarily do we go by those, but we respect everybody to have a voice. That's a great thing about America, man."

Mahomes said he judges Butker by his character, but says that the kicker has said things that he doesn't agree with.

"I've known him for seven years. I judge him by the character he shows every day and that's a good person. ... We're not always going to agree. He said certain things I don't agree with."

Defensive tackle Chris Jones also came to Butker's defense while responding to a petition to get the kicker released from his contract over the controversial comments.

While Butker's comments are the talk of the NFL, his teammates are defending him as a person despite the controversial comments.