Thought Crimes vs. Violent Crimes: There's More Outrage Over Harrison Butker Than NFL's Violent Criminals

There's far more outrage over Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker's commencement address at Benedictine College last Saturday than there is over other NFL players committing violent crimes.

For a recap, Butker encouraged women at a Catholic college to embrace being a mother during his speech. He credited his wife for staying home while he earned for the family. 

"I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker." 

Butker, a devout Catholic, shared a Catholic worldview that the most important role a woman can assume is birthing a child. 

Detractors of Butler's speech have depicted his comments as a means to shame women who prioritize their careers over motherhood. The spin is predictable and dishonest. 

That said, Butker's perspective on marriage is rooted in his Catholic faith. Religious messaging is inherently polarizing. We understand how Butker's comments could make respondents uncomfortable, even after consuming the full context of his commencement address. 

What's telling, however, is the level of outrage over Butker's address compared to, say, his teammate Rashee Rice.

Rice was recently arrested on eight felony charges concerning a hit-and-run accident while drag-racing his Lamborghini at 119 mph on a Dallas highway. He is fortunate. One of the vehicles he crashed into included a mother and her young child. He could have killed or injured them both, and himself. He also fled the scene before checking if his victims were okay or in need of medical attention. 

Here's the dashcam footage:

Earlier this month, police opened a separate investigation into Rice for allegedly punching a photographer at a nightclub in Dallas, leaving the accuser with noticeable swelling in his face.

Multiple outlets, including The Athletic, have since reported that NFL teams were told in the draft process that Rice and one of his friends allegedly fired multiple bullets into an empty vehicle while attending college at SMU. Rice believed the owner of the car flirted with his then-girlfriend, per the reports. 

Rice admitted to one violent incident (the hit-and-run) and has not denied the other two. 

Yet the NFL did not condemn Rice the way it did Butker. "Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity," Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, told People Magazine on Thursday. 

"His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger," concluded the NFL official.

There is also no petition with over 100,000 signatures demanding the Chiefs release Rice, as there is for Butker.

Rice is not the subject of hit pieces for USA Today, NFL hosts, reporters, and athletes. Butker is.

Harrison Butker is a Catholic. Rashee Rice is a thug. And for those reasons, Butker is the one the NFL and media are disparaging. 

The disparate responses to Rice and Butker may sound anecdotal, or whataboutism-ish. We get it. However, the double standard is indicative of a much larger trend:

The outrage machine treats supposed thought crimes more seriously than violent crimes.

Consider all the public figures who were canceled over making a supposedly racist or homophobic comment. Now, compare that group to the lengthy list of celebrities arrested for assault. 

Saying the N-word as a teen on social media is often viewed as a more egregious sin by the public than weapon or assault charges.

Last year, American businesses dissociated from rapper Kanye West for accusing an underground Jewish cabal of undermining his business empire. Hotshot WME CEO Ari Emanuel pressured music services to remove West's extensive library from streaming availability. 

Emanuel dared Apple and Spotify to prove they are not antisemitic, writing: "Those who continue to do business with West are giving his misguided hate an audience. There should be no tolerance anywhere for West's anti-Semitism."

Several music services did remove West's library, temporarily. 

Even if you agree with Emanuel that West is a cringing anti-Semite, you'd struggle to justify that his tirades were more egregious than the plethora of rappers accused of rape and/or sexual assault.

Notably, there were no such calls to ban and dissociate from Lil Mosey (accused of rape in 2020), Nelly (arrested for rape in 2018) and T.I. (accused of sexual assault in 2021).

Look at the NFL. More than 20 NFL players were arrested last season. The NFL is littered with domestic abusers and players, who didn't receive a quarter of the outrage Butker has.

As a society, we must stop overemphasizing the opinions of public figures: athletes, actors, and musicians. 

Celebrities, particularly athletes, spew polarizing remarks all the time. Most of them are uninformed and inadequately educated. We lend them undeserved credibility by caring so greatly about what they say.

Harrison Butker is a 28-year-old kicker. He's hardly some groundbreaking thought leader. 

He's not radicalizing anyone, or leading an army of men who demand their women stay home barefoot in the kitchen. 

Again, we don't fault anyone for vehemently disagreeing with his advice. But to see the NFL, players and reporters up in such arms grants Butker far more influence than any player should wield. 

Certainly, if a politician made similar remarks as Butker, a debate about the merits of the argument would be justified. Butker is not a politician. He's not one of the 100 most famous players in the NFL.

Butker prefers his wife to stay home. So do plenty of other men. And women. Other women do not. It's hard to fathom anyone with strong opinions on the topic changing their opinion after hearing from Butker.

The NFL allows players to support Marxian organizations, like Black Lives Matter. The league affords abusers, hoodlums and criminals third and fourth and fifth chances. 

The NFL and its fans should be able to survive a player celebrating how his religious ties made him and his wife happier during a commencement address at a Catholic college.