Travis Kelce has broken his silence and defended his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Harrison Butker after his controversial recent speech where he told female graduates that one of their most important roles in life will be ‘homemaker’.

Butker sparked widespread outrage with a 20-minute speech at Benedictine College, Kansas, where he directly addressed female graduates and told them to be excited for the ‘vocation’ of being a homemaker, using his wife Isabelle as an example.

Now, speaking on the latest episode of New Heights, Kelce – who was recording the show from Europe, where he is joining girlfriend Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour – stood up for his teammate against the cancel culture backlash, even though he disagreed with it almost entirely.

‘I’ve known him for even plus years. I cherish him as a teammate. I think Pat (Mahomes – the Chiefs quarterback) said it best where he is every bit of a great person and a great teammate,’ he said.

‘He’s treated family and family that I’ve introduced to him with nothing but respect and kindness. And that’s how he treats everyone.

Travis Kelce has spoken out on his teammate Harrison Butker’s recent commencement speech

‘When it comes down to his views and what he said at the Saint Benedict’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.

‘And 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.

‘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, a broad view of a lot of different walks of life. I appreciated every single one of those people for different reasons and I never once had to feel that I needed to judge them based off their beliefs.

‘My household, my mother and my father both provided for my family and both my mother and my father made home what it was. They were homemakers and they were providers. And they were unbelievable at being present every single day of my life.

‘I think that was a beautiful upbringing for me. Now I don’t think everyone should do it the way my parents did, but I certainly, sure as hell thank my parents and love my parents for being able to provide and make home what it was.

‘I’m not the same person without the both of them being who they were in my life.’

Jason Kelce also said he disagrees with Butker but hit out at the level the backlash got to. A petition for Butker to be cut by the Chiefs has been signed by over 225,000 people.

Kelce spoke out on his New Heights podcast – which he recorded in Europe while he travels with girlfriend Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour

Jason Kelce said that the saga has made him reflect on his own role as a father

Responding to Travis, he said: ‘It’s always great to hear from people who really actually know people than a bunch of people reacting to comments without really having met the guy.

‘I think the teammates reactions, Andy Reid’s reaction – you learn about people on a daily basis. There are always going to be opinions that everybody shares that you are going to disagree with.

‘Make no mistake about it, the things he said in the commencement speech are not things that I align myself with. But he’s giving a commencement speech at a Catholic university and shocker, it ended up being a very religious speech.

‘To me, I can listen to somebody talk and take great value in it when he is talking about the importance of family and the importance of a great mother – while also acknowledging that not everybody has to be a homemaker if that’s not what they want to do in life.

‘When you listen to somebody, you take in what you like and you listen to other things and say I don’t f***ing like that.

‘He talks about family. I don’t think we have enough people talking about the foundation of family and the seriousness of parenthood. If you’re going to embark on being a parent, I do think it needs to be the most important thing in your life. If your kids aren’t the most important thing in your and your wife’s life, you are failing in my opinion.

‘I also don’t think women, for the most part, are the issue here. I think there’s a much bigger issue with another gender in terms of raising kids.

‘We’ve played our entire careers with people that we don’t align on with everything. I don’t know I’ve played with one teammate that he and I have agreed with every single thing that each one of us thinks. And that’s the beauty! You find a way to work together.

Butker pictured with his wife Isabelle and their young son after a Chiefs game

Butker said his wife has no career regrets due to her role as a mother to their family

Jason, who has three young daughters with his wife Kylie, said the situation made him reflect on his role as a father, as well. Jason and Kylie have Wyatt, 4, Elliotte, 3 and Bennet, 1.

‘I’ve had so many people ask me what would you do if your daughters had to sit there and listen to someone tell them after they have just earned a degree that they should just go and align to be homemakers.

‘I would say that if my daughters listen to someone tell them what to do, that they should be homemakers, I failed as a dad,’ Jason said.

Travis continued: ‘I go back to my beliefs and my family and how I was brought into the world. My views are never going to be the same as the man next to me.’

Butker said at the speech that his wife Isabelle didn’t forge the career she wanted but has no regrets due to raising a family.

He said: ‘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.

‘Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud, without hesitation, and say, “Heck, no”‘ Butker explained, saying his wife had ‘one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.’

Butker also criticized IVF, which he said was ‘playing God with having children’ and said President Biden was complicit in ‘the murder of innocent babies’ due to his stance on abortion.