Harrison Butker issued a response to a dig tennis legend Serena Williams made at the Kansas City Chiefs kicker while she hosted the 2024 ESPY Awards on Thursday. Butker called Williams a “great host” but said she used the event as an “opportunity to disinvite” those with whom she disagrees.

Williams discussed the year in women’s sports onstage with sister Venus Williams and “Abbott Elementary” star Quinta Brunson. Venus told the audience to “go ahead and enjoy women’s sports, like you would any other sports, because they are sports.”

Serena then added, “Except you, Harrison Butker. We don’t need you.”

“At all. Like, ever,” Brunson said.

Butker drew widespread criticism for a commencement speech he gave in May at Benedictine College in which he said a woman’s most important title is “homemaker,” among other controversial comments.

Butker attended Thursday’s ESPY Awards, but the telecast did not show his reaction to Williams’ jab. He later issued a statement addressing the comment.

“I thought Mrs. Williams was a great host and applaud her for using her platform to express her beliefs on a variety of topics,” Butker said in the statement, first reported by NBC News on Friday and confirmed by The Athletic.

“Sports are supposed to be the…

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker said he doesn’t have any regrets about his commencement address at Benedictine College earlier this month, saying in his first public comments since the speech that he received “a shocking level of hate” but also support for his views.

“It’s a decision I’ve consciously made and one I do not regret at all,” Butker said Friday night at the Regina Caeli Academy Courage Under Fire Gala in Nashville, Tenn.

Butker, in the commencement speech, referred to Pride Month as an example of the “deadly sins” and he wanted the graduating class to prevent political leaders from interfering with social issues that impact their relationship with the Catholic church. He also addressed gender ideologies and said a woman’s most important title is “homemaker.”

“It is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you,” Butker said during the speech. “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 also used the speech to criticize President Joe Biden on several issues, including abortion and the COVID-19 pandemic, and questioned Biden’s devotion to…

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said he doesn’t agree with all of kicker Harrison Butker’s comments during his recent controversial commencement speech, but considers Butker a close friend and “good person.”

“I’ve known (Butker) for seven years,” Mahomes said. “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.”

During his commencement speech at Benedictine College, Butker referred to Pride Month as an example of the “deadly sins.” He also addressed gender ideologies and said a woman’s most important title is “homemaker.”

Mahomes declined to say exactly which comments of Butker’s he disagreed with but added: “I’ve seen the clips. … That’s his views.”

“It is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you,” Butker said during his speech to graduates earlier this month. “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…

The Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica spoke out against Harrison Butker’s controversial graduation speech at Benedictine College, saying they “reject a narrow definition of what it means to be Catholic” and “the assertion that being a homemaker is the highest calling for a woman.”

During the commencement speech at the Catholic school in Atchison, Kansas, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker addressed gender ideologies and said a woman’s most important title is “homemaker.” He also referred to Pride Month as an example of the “deadly sins,” and said he wanted the graduating class to prevent political leaders from interfering with social issues that impact their relationship with the church.

In a statement released Friday, the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica said they “do not believe that Harrison Butker’s comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested.

“Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division. … We sisters have dedicated our lives to God and God’s people, including the many women whom we have taught and influenced during the past 160…

To quote Martina McBride, this one’s for the girls!

Here we are, 138 days since Taylor Swift went to a Chiefs game, left hand-in-hand with Travis Kelce, and set off the cultural avalanche that is the world’s most talked-about relationship (for now). The conversation around the couple has reached a fever pitch in this liminal space between Grammys Sunday, when Swift won her fourth Album of the Year, and Super Bowl Sunday, when Kelce will play for his third Super Bowl ring.

Granted, that fever pitch has many of us feeling unwell, with press conferences acquiring a distinct circus atmosphere. But, per Kelce at a media event on Wednesday, “I guess I’m just comfortable in the atmosphere and the chaos that goes around us… For a week, why not go through all this craziness and showcase my story, my family and everybody that has gotten me to this point.”

Whatever your feelings on Swift personally, “the Taylor Swift effect” – as it has been dubbed by many, including NFL commissioner Roger Goodell – is undeniable. The NFL had its highest regular-season viewership among women, and Apex Marketing Group claims that Swift helped generate an equivalent brand value of $331.5 million for the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL.

A recent poll from the Stillman School of Business’…

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers had a bye during the opening round of the playoffs, but that didn’t mean Kyle Juszczyk had the weekend off.

The team’s fullback went into action after his wife, Kristin, managed to meld three massive newsmakers — Taylor Swift, the NFL and the winter storms that were walloping the nation — when Swift confidently strode into Kansas City’s frozen Arrowhead Stadium wearing a jacket Kristin had made.

Swift and her legion of followers wield tremendous influence and can make social media sites convulse. And her long, red puffer — adorned with the No. 87 of her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce — did just that.

For the Juszczyks, it was the equivalent of a five-touchdown day. They’d learned the singer-songwriter planned to wear the jacket but they weren’t sure. Kyle said they were watching on television from their San Jose home on Saturday afternoon when cameras caught Swift, protected by the jacket and a white beanie, getting out of a golf cart before the Chiefs’ wild-card playoff game against the Miami Dolphins got underway.

.@taylorswift13 arrives for her #NFLPlayoffs debut. #MIAvsKC — 8pm ET on Peacock
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/bTakd7uLvX pic.twitter.com/Ugb1URaSoc

— NFL…

NFL team owners collect millions in revenue. They wield outsized power over their organizations and in their communities. They point to the bottom line, wins and losses, when firing coaches and executives, sometimes without giving them much time. But their own won-lost records appear nowhere.

Even people who follow the NFL closely might not know whether Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross owns a better record than New York Giants owner John Mara (he does).

They might not know whether female owners account for two of the five highest winning percentages since taking over their teams (they do).

They might not know that the only team without a traditional owner could lose 200 games overnight without dipping below .500 (the Green Bay Packers could).

They might not know that five of the last six owners to buy (rather than inherit) a team make up the bottom five in win percentage (they do — the lone exception is the Buffalo Bills’ Terry Pegula).

Some of these ownership situations are difficult to evaluate for reasons such as owners allowing their offspring to operate their teams. I’ve used simple criteria in ranking owners from worst to best win rates below. For our purposes, wins and losses are counted for owners after the NFL has approved their purchases; after an owner…

Drop everything now. Taylor Swift is back at Arrowhead Stadium.

Swift attended Sunday’s game between Kansas City and the Los Angeles Chargers to watch tight end Travis Kelce, marking the fourth time she’s been at a Chiefs game this season. Swift was seen with Brittany Mahomes, Patrick Mahomes’ wife, in a box while sporting a red Chiefs sweatshirt.

.@taylorswift13 and @BrittanyLynne are vibing at Arrowhead

: #LACvsKC on CBS
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/iTs8HMaXlh pic.twitter.com/5bh5uw4kzY

— NFL (@NFL) October 22, 2023

The 12-time Grammy winner first appeared at Arrowhead Stadium during Kansas City’s Week 3 win over the Chicago Bears, sending fans into a frenzy. Rumors swirled at the time that Swift and Kelce were in communication, but they had not been seen together. Swift and Kelce left the stadium in his car after the game and went to a party at a Kansas City restaurant.

The following week, Swift watched Kelce in New York, where she primarily lives, when the Chiefs played the Jets. Several celebrities attended the game with Swift, including Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and Hugh Jackman.

Two weeks later, Swift returned to Arrowhead Stadium to see Kanas City beat the Denver Broncos in a “Thursday Night Football” matchup.

The Chiefs had a bye last…

Cover 7 | Friday A daily NFL destination that provides in-depth analysis of football’s biggest stories. Each Friday, Richard Deitsch examines some of the biggest storylines in the NFL media world.

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Richie Zyontz got his foot in the door of sports broadcasting in an almost unheard-of way today: He took a full-time security job at CBS’ headquarters on West 52nd Street in New York in the late 1970s and eventually made his way into the research department for CBS Sports. He would be the first person to tell you that he is old school.

For five decades Zyontz has produced pro football at the highest level, including the last 21 years as the lead producer on Fox’s top NFL broadcast. He has served as the lead television producer for seven Super Bowls, an assignment maybe two dozen or so people on earth can say they’ve done.

Between Zyontz and Fox lead NFL director Rich Russo, they have been part of 29 Super Bowls, including time at Fox and CBS Sports. Last year’s Super Bowl was Russo’s fifth as lead director.

Zyontz produced John Madden for many years and texted the legendary broadcaster daily before his death. The two were so interconnected that Madden introduced Zyontz to his wife, June, in 1986 and was the best man at Zyontz’s 1990 wedding, which took place at Madden’s…

Norma Hunt, the wife of late Kansas City Chiefs founder Lamar Hunt and mother of team chairman and CEO Clark Hunt, died Sunday, the franchise announced. She was 85.

“Our family is deeply saddened by the passing of our mother, Norma,” the Hunt family said in a statement. “She was a wonderful mother and an extraordinary woman who will be dearly missed by all who knew her.

“Kind, generous and unfailingly positive, mom was one of a kind. Her joy and zeal for life were infectious. She loved caring for others, and she always had an encouraging word. She was a loyal friend, the consummate hostess and she had a rare ability to make everyone she encountered feel valued and at ease.

“Mom was steadfastly devoted to her family and fiercely passionate about her family’s sports teams. She was by our father Lamar’s side every step of the way – from the merger of the AFL and the NFL to the formation of Major League Soccer, World Championship Tennis, the North American Soccer League, and their founding investment in the Chicago Bulls. She was the only person we knew who rivaled his love of sports. The two of them found such joy together, whether at home, or in stadium stands around the world.”

Norma Hunt’s 57th and final Super Bowl appearance saw the Chiefs defeat the Eagles…