Tavia Hunt, wife of Chiefs CEO, supports Harrison Butker’s commencement speech

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV/Gray News) – Tavia Hunt, the director of the Kansas City Chiefs Women’s Organization and wife of Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt, is supporting Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker after he gave a controversial commencement speech.

In an Instagram post Thursday, Tavia Hunt said that getting married and raising a family is one of the “greatest blessings this world has to offer.”

Read her full statement:

“I’ve always encouraged my daughters to be highly educated and chase their dreams. I want them to know that they can do whatever they want (that honors God). But I also want them to know that I believe finding a spouse who loves and honors you as or before himself and raising a family together is one of the greatest blessings this world has to offer. Studies show that committed, married couples with children are the happiest demographic, and this has been my experience as well.

*Affirming motherhood and praising your wife, as well as highlighting the sacrifice and dedication it takes to be a mother, is not bigoted. It is empowering to acknowledge that a woman’s hard work in raising children is not in vain.* Countless highly educated women devote their lives to nurturing and guiding their children. Someone disagreeing with you doesn’t make them hateful; it simply means they have a different opinion. Let’s celebrate families, motherhood and fatherhood. Our society desperately needs dedicated men and women to raise up and train the next generation in the way they should go. Proverbs 31:28 says, “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Embracing the beautiful roles that God has made is something to celebrate.

*I also caution against taking things out of context. Sound bites overlaid with hateful comments are not what we want to model for our children or others. We need more dialogue (and VALUES, IMO) in this country and less hate.*”

Tavia Hunt’s post came five days after Butker gave a commencement speech at Benedictine College that touched on COVID, President Joe Biden’s policies, Pride month and the role of women and men in society.

At one point during the speech, Butker told the women he thought they’d had “the most diabolical lies” told to them.

“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you,” Butker said. “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. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”

Butker also gave the commencement speech at his alma mater Georgia Tech in May 2023. In it, Butker said he had a “controversial anecdote” to young adults’ feelings of “loneliness, anxiety and depression.”

“Get married and start a family,” Butker told Georgia Tech graduates.

The comments from Tavia Hunt are the only public comments from anyone in the Chiefs organization. The NFL distanced itself from Butker’s comments Thursday.

“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization,” said Senior Vice President Jonathan Beane, the league’s chief diversity and inclusion officer. “The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”

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