Harrison Butker admitted to reporters that his wife, Isabelle, cried as she listened to his commencement speech to the graduating class at Benedictine College.
The Kansas City Chiefs kicker received backlash for his comments , declaring women should embrace their role as a "homemaker" more than anything else. Additionally, Butker made comments touching on abortion, surrogacy and in vitro fertilization.
He also criticized President Joe Biden in his speech, which received backlash and support, with tennis legend Serena Williams calling Butker out on his comments during the ESPYs . Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Butker gave more insight into his thoughts about the speech and revealed that his wife cried as he spoke to the crowd at Benedictine College.
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"My whole career, I've talked about how I'm a husband and I'm a father before it comes to me as a kicker or something I've always preached," Butker said, "But then when I use that to talk about women and I say that they should embrace and love being wives and being mothers over their career.
"I think then it gets misconstrued that I'm trying to put women down, which I'm not at all. I love women, I love my wife and it comes from a place of love. My wife had never heard me speak publicly and she was there for that moment and she was up in the background in one of the offices up there and I was getting emotional looking at her crying and understanding that she had sacrificed so much for me.
"She completely changed her life around and she has made she is focused on being the ultimate wife and the ultimate mother and I love her so much for that."
Butker added because of his wife Isabelle's sacrifices, that has pushed the kicker to be a "better husband" and a "better father" as well as being the best kicker he could be. And while Butker's original comments and the fact that he is doubling down on them could rub some the wrong way, the 29-year-old believes if those criticizing him knew him personally, they would change their tone.
"I was really curious as to what people would be saying back to me and I respected all the viewpoints," he said. "But in terms of what I said, I prayed about it and I thought about it and I was very intentional with what I said and I stand behind what I said.
"I really believe if people knew me as a person and understood that I was coming from a place of love and not a place of trying to attack or put people down, that I only want the best for people.
"That's what I was trying to say there. I think the people that were in that gymnasium all understood what I was saying."
Among those who did not understand what message Butker was trying was Williams. After the two spotted each other at the ESPYs, the tennis legend called out the kicker , with the help of her sister Venus and comedian Quinta Brunson.
"You can enjoy women’s sports, just like any other sport, because they are sports," Venus said, to which Serena added: "Except for you Harrison Butker, we don't need you." Brunson added one more comment: "At all, like ever."
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