Chiefs’ Harrison Butker explains why he chose not to be vaccinated despite NFL rules
In June, the NFL and the Players Association agreed to a new set of rules that made it clear players were being encouraged to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Among the changes, unvaccinated players were tested daily, couldn’t eat in a team cafeteria with teammates and had to wear a mask at team facilities and when traveling. Those rules did not apply to vaccinated players.
NFL vaccination rates topped 90%, and Chiefs coach Andy Reid was asked about his team shortly before the season began.
“We’re right there. We’re right at the top,” Reid said. “There aren’t many that aren’t vaccinated. I’ll just put it that way. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to say and not say on that, but we’re just about 100%.”
One player who decided against getting vaccinated was kicker Harrison Butker, and he explained his reasoning on the “Breakaway” podcast.
Butker praised the Chiefs for being open to all viewpoints and not forcing the players to do anything.
“With Coach Reid and with our head athletic trainer, Rick Burkholder, they did a great job kind of allowing us to have our own opinions,” Butker said. “Just kind of hearing stories from around the league with different athletic trainers, different coaches and how they approach the whole situation, saying you have to do X, Y and Z or else basically, you’re out of here. That’s a shame and I don’t think we should be in a country where we’re having to decide, ‘Do I have to take this thing, do I have to put this thing on my face just to get by and kind of live like a normal person.’
“So back to the Chiefs, they were very open in their discussions about it. I mean, I had a lot of issues with all the protocols that we had to go through. Rick, our head athletic trainer, did a great job kind of communicating to me why we’re doing all these things. Enough so that I was able to go through my day to day with understanding where the league, where the PA is coming from and kind of understanding different guys on the team and what their viewpoints are.”
‘Football isn’t my life’
Butker spent much of the podcast talking about his Catholic faith but said he didn’t like how some players were left feeling like they didn’t have a choice when it came to getting the vaccine.
But that pressure wasn’t felt by Butker, who has made 90.1% of his field-goal attempts in five seasons with the Chiefs. Had he been told to get vaccinated, Butker said he would have quit, although he never expressed that thought to the Chiefs.
“It was almost like you have to do these things, you’ve got to follow these protocols, or else you’re not going to have a job and you’re going to get cut,” Butker said. “But for me, I just felt in my situation, I talked to my wife and I was fully OK with stepping away from football. I was like I’m gonna stick to my principles, I’m not going to compromise and if this is my last season, then so be it. And I think in some ways I was an example for a lot of the guys like wow, you know, maybe I should have stood up a little bit more. Maybe in the future when there’s something that’s gonna come down where I feel like my freedom’s getting taken away and I feel like I don’t have a voice, well, I can stick up and stand up for what I believe in.
“Because at the end of the day, football isn’t my life. It’s my job. I love it. I love kicking. I love the Chiefs. I love playing but I’m a child of God and I’m a husband and father and that comes before playing football. So if I’m ever doing something that I think goes against those first two things, as being a child of God and as being a husband and father, then I’m prepared to step away and look for another means to provide for the family.
“So I think a lot of the younger guys especially who maybe identify as just, ‘Football is my life, that is who I am,’ they were the ones that maybe had to compromise on their beliefs just so they could continue doing what (they) love and it’s a tough thing. I don’t know what I would have done if I was in their position as a young rookie, but being more established in the NFL, kind of seen what the NFL was about.”
NFL life in 2020
Butker talked about what life was like for the Chiefs players during the 2020 season, when teams either had no fans in the stands or limited numbers were allowed through the gates.
Those games in 2020 felt more like scrimmages than NFL games, Butker said. And the meetings were mostly done via Zoom video calls, which didn’t allow the players to get to know each other.
But that was lifted in 2021, and Butker said that helped keep the lines of communication open with his teammates and Chiefs coaches.
“It was kind of nice for us at least as NFL players to still be in person together and we could have these conversations with guys on both ends of the spectrum, kind of understanding where each other is coming from,” Butker said. “And I think that moved the conversation forward. It was good for me. I thought guys on the team, coaches and stuff, they understood where I was coming from, and then it was nice to hear different people that had issues.
“There was some coaches that had immune-compromised children, which is why they were trying to be super safe around the facilities and that’s something I can respect, but if I wasn’t able to have that conversation with them, I wouldn’t have known that and maybe I would be the one that’s being the troll. So it was a good learning experience for everybody involved. And I thought that the Chiefs did a great job.”
Here is the full discussion:
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 9:53 AM.
