Roger Goodell's gutless response to Harrison Butker's speech threatens to lose fans NFL just gained

As much as your grumpy uncle may say he's tired of Taylor Swift's influence on the NFL, the league itself welcomes it. Roger Goodell's schedule deputies have openly admitted to building some of the Chiefs games around her tour schedule. During Kansas City's matchups last season, Swift was prominently featured on all of the league's relevant social channels. She even made an appearance at the Super Bowl.

Swift is part of the NFL dogma now, at least for as long as her and Kelce are together. Swift referenced touchdowns and more football terminology on her latest album, The Tortured Poet's Department. Whether he openly admits it or not, Goodell ought to be Swift's personal cheerleader.

The following is per the New York Times, and showcases Swift's impact on Chiefs games and overall viewership:

"When Swift attended a Chiefs game, the networks averaged 25 million viewers in their respective late Sunday time slots and 16 million in their early Sunday time slots. By our crude counting, that viewership was 9 percent and 15 percent higher than the same time slots when she didn't appear."

Many of these new viewers are crossover fans brought by Swift, and a good portion of those are, of course, women. That makes what Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker said during a recent commencement ceremony at Benedictine College -- a small catholic institution in Atchison, Kansas -- all the more concerning.

What did Harrison Butker say about women?

“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,” Butker said during his speech. “How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? 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.”

Butker went on to reference Swift directly, quoting her song 'Bejewled', saying that "familiarity breeds contempt." The Chiefs kicker said much more than this, of course. His message to men was arguably just as harmful, saying that they "set the ton for the culture" and to "fight against the cultural emasculation of men," insinuating that the current cultural support of women is flawed judgement.

Butker's entire commencement speech can be seen here, if you'd prefer to take a trip back in time.

Roger Goodell's light response to Harrison Butker

Butker's comments at a Catholic college were one thing, and sadly expected from anyone familiar with his background and political beliefs. Roger Goodell's borderline defense of them was not, and threatens to lose some of the ground the NFL has gained with women over the past year.

“We have over 3,000 players. We have executives around the league. They have diversity of opinions and thoughts just like America does. That’s something we treasure," Goodell said. He referred to a league statement in which the NFL distanced itself from Butker's views a few days ago.

Goodell is an expert in PR lingo, and he used it again in reference to Butker, avoiding an obvious call-out of a kicker. This isn't Patrick Mahomes. It's not Justin Jefferson. Butker is far from a face of the league, yet Goodell and the league would rather stand in the middle than make a small faction of their fanbase feel left behind.

Ironically, Goodell did just that by straddling the line.