Isabelle Butker decries backlash at husband, Chiefs’ Harrison Butker, over speech
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker last week returned to the Courage Under Fire Gala in Nashville where he was one of the keynote speakers.
Butker spoke at last year’s gala, which benefits the Regina Caeli Academy, a Catholic homeschool hybrid, and he stood by the message in his commencement speech at Benedictine College.
You may recall how Butker’s words made national headlines and led some to believe he was misogynistic for saying a woman could be content being a wife and mother. Butker user his wife, Isabelle, as an example.
“I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation, as a wife, and as a mother,” Butker told the Benedictine graduates. “I’m on this stage today and able to be the man I am, because I have a wife who leans into her vocation.”
Isabelle Butker was at this year’s gala in Nashville and spoke about the reaction to her husband’s commencement speech with the Daily Wire’s Mary Margaret Olohan.
One example of the criticism: The Chargers poked fun at Harrison Butker in their 2024 schedule release, depicting him cooking.
“I love being a wife and mother. I actually love being in my kitchen. Cooking for my family is one of my favorite things,” Isabelle Butker said. “No, I was really disappointed about a lot of the things that I read and the lack of reading comprehension or anyone actually listening to what he said, and I took it a little personally but decided to let it go.
“But you know, Harrison’s an amazing man, and I feel so blessed to be his wife and to be able to take care of his children every day, and I’m not oppressed. It’s a choice, and it’s been the best choice of my life.”
On the reaction to Butker’s address
Isabelle Butker was asked if people would be upset having to live like her.
“Most of the people who had opinions weren’t people who were even married, or are not blessed to have a loving relationship,” she said. “It seems there’s a lot of people out there (who) need a lot of prayers, and they have a lot of things that have shaped their lives in sadly negative ways that skews their perception of other people’s reality.”
Harrison Butker added: “There is so much brokenness in homes today, absent fathers, bad marriages, and so I think when people hear me talking about the man being the head of the household and the woman embracing her vocation and staying home with the children, I think it becomes off-putting to hear that, because they think of maybe trauma that they’ve seen with their parents or their friends, which is definitely an unfortunate and sad thing, and definitely we should be praying for them.
“But we’re just speaking from our experience and what has been great for us, and we want to share that with the world, with all of the people that are our age that are looking for direction. And I think some people definitely were able to hear the message. And I think good came from it.”
‘Have your own escape plan’
Isabelle Butker said she heard from many people directly and indirectly after the commencement speech. She was disturbed by what people were saying.
“There’s just so much noise that tells you otherwise: ‘Marriage is not popular, he’s gonna leave you. Have your own escape plan.’ I see a lot of that lately,” she said. “I don’t really get on the internet, but mostly because it’s crazy. But I think it is just so important for people to be willing to say, ‘No, there is this beautiful other option that’s not what you’re hearing about, and you don’t need to be afraid for it to be appealing to you.’”
Lest you think the Butkers were sitting on a high horse, they made a point of saying they aren’t in a perpetual state of wedded bliss.
But Isabelle is happily married.
“I mean, we’ve only been married seven years,” she said. “We’re always like, it’s crazy how much we’ve changed and how much more joyful we even are. You think your wedding day is the happiest day of your life, but it’s really every day. Overall it gets happier and better, which is hard to fathom when you haven’t stepped into it yet.”
Harrison Butker added: “We don’t have a perfect marriage, obviously.”
“No,” Isabelle said, “not trying to say that ... But we’ve worked hard to stick together.”
You can find the interview on X/Twitter.
This story was originally published May 30, 2025 at 8:51 AM.
