Travis Kelce has broken his silence nearly two weeks after his Kansas City Chiefs teammate's controversial "homemaker" commencement speech at a Catholic college.
While Kelce noted he "can't say he agrees with the majority" of what the Chief's kicker told 485 graduates at Benedictine College earlier this month about women, he also heaped praise on Butker, and called him a "great person."
Butker, 28, warned female graduates in his speech about "dangerous gender ideologies" — claiming they have been fed the "most diabolical lies" — and suggested working women were unfulfilled.
Butker told the women waiting for their diplomas that their "most important title" should be that of "homemaker."
During Friday's episode of the Kelce brothers "New Heights" podcast, Taylor Swift's current heartthrob emphasized that he "cherish[ed]" Butker as a teammate, despite their different views.
"When it comes down to his views and what he said at the St. Benedictine's commencement speech, those are his," he tiptoed around the issue, ABC News reported.
Both the Benedictine sisters who operate the college and the NFL said Butker's comments don't represent their values.
Kelce said: "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. 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."
Kelce, 34, said he grew up among "different social classes, different religions, different races and ethnicities" that showed him "a broad view of a lot of different walks of life."
He added: "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," he said.
Kelce said both his parents, Ed and Donna Kelce, acted as "homemakers" and "providers" who were "present every single day in my life."
"That was a beautiful upbringing for me," he explained. "Now, I don't think everyone should do it the way that my parents did, but I certainly – and sure as hell – thank my parents and love my parents for being able to provide, and making sure that home was what it was, because I'm not the same person without both of them being who they were in my life."
Butker's own mother was an accomplished physicist.
Kelce commented a day after fellow teammate Patrick Mahomes defended Butker.
"We're not always going to agree, there are certain things that he said that I don't necessarily agree with, but I understand the person that he is and he's trying to do whatever he can to lead people in the right direction," said Mahomes, according to CNN.
