A Misogynist, An Arrest and NFL Schedule Releases

This week is not only filled with one, two, but three topics! That’s what the sports world gave us this past week. A mixture of anger, shock and comedy with the three topics last week.

The three topics you might’ve guessed that took over the internet was Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s misogynist comments, No. 1 ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler’s unlikely arrest and NFL schedule release day.

There’s a lot to unpack, so let’s get started!

No. 1 Topic: Harrison Butker’s Chauvinist Commencement Speach

Commencement speeches are supposed to be motivational, inspirational and uplifting. To be honest, I don’t remember who gave my college graduation’s commencement speech (Go Hoosiers!), might’ve been a CEO at a Fortune 500, but that was 11 years ago. I don’t think the speech was that riveting.

One that might go down as one of the most infamous commencement speeches of the year, if not the decade was Harrison Butker’s address to Benedictine College’s graduates. Benedictine College is small liberal arts college in Kansas with Catholic religious affiliation.

Butker proceeded to tell an emphatic speech about women’s rights, LGBTQ, COVID and numerous other controversial topics that don’t belong in a commencement speech in my opinion.

Here’s a recap from The GIST:

The 28-year-old’s address at the May 11 ceremony decried various “diabolical lies told to women” about topics including abortion, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy, as well as President Joe Biden.⁣

The NFL player started by mentioning how this year’s graduates started college at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but said that, “while COVID might have played a large role throughout your formative years, it is not unique,” and took aim at “bad policies and poor leadership” that he says “have negatively impacted major life issues.“⁣

“Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerative cultural values in media all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder.“⁣

The Chiefs kicker addressed the female graduates in the room directly: “I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. 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.“⁣

Later, he addressed the male graduates directly, advising them to “be unapologetic in your masculinity,” and to “fight against the cultural emasculation of men,” in his speech. Elsewhere in his speech, Butker took aim at the LGBTQ+ community, calling their pride “deadly sins.“⁣

My take on his speech:

Half of America is saying “Freedom of Speech and that they agree with some, if not a majority of these points,” but the other half (the side I’m on) believes this was totally out of line and should not have been said at all because of the despicable nature and hatefulness-filled moments through his speech.

I totally understand Freedom of Speech and believe it’s one of the reasons that makes America a great country, but what I don’t agree with is demeaning other groups of people that make this a great country in the first place. Our country’s values are to respect each other, diversity and inclusion as well as equality for all.

I was raised by a very feminist mother who taught me to always respect and cherish the women in my life. My bubbe (my grandmother), mom, sister and aunts were all crucial parts of my upbringing. I would never think of saying demeaning things about them like “their greatest vocation is being a homemaker.”

Women have already had a tough time of “breaking through the glass ceiling” and a speech like this shows that a public figure like Butker possibly wants to set back the progress that has been made on women’s rights. It was definitely Handmaid’s Tale-esqe (if you know the show).

Again, all of this is my opinion and you are allowed to have yours too. I signed change.org petition to help dismiss Butker from the Chiefs (who still haven’t made a comment on the speech!), which has over 200,000 signatures and rising 👀

Here are some of my favorite social media posts/reactions on the speech:

broadcastboyshoh

View more on Instagram

richeisenshow

View more on Instagram

My favorite response (see the Chargers “easter egg” of putting Butker actually in the kitchen in their schedule release video) 🤣

chargers

View more on Instagram

Topic No. 2: Scottie Scheffler’s Arrest During the PGA Championship

On May 17, the No. 1 golfer in the world was detained and booked by Louisville police after allegedly driving through a police barricade. Louisville police were investigating the death of a pedestrian at the time. Within three hours Scheffler was arrested, booked, released and back at Valhalla Golf Course 56 minutes prior to the second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.

Jeff Eisenband broke down the entire arrest in an excellent video (see below):

I still have never heard of a player, yet alone the best golfer in the world get arrested before his tee time, then proceed to shoot a 5-under par 66 and get into contention for the weekend. It’s bizarre and shocking of what went down this past weekend.

Barstool Sports capitalized on the news with a shirt of their own.

In case you didn’t watch this weekend, congrats to Xander Schauffele on winning his first major 👏

Topic No. 3: NFL Schedule Release

While this won’t be my full breakdown of the NFL schedule release creative content (see next week), here are some that caught my eye.

My favorite: The Chargers Sims Video

I thought the most creative and funny schedule release video was The Chargers. Maybe The Sims-style video connects to me (and my millennial generation) or maybe I just like all the “easter eggs” (hidden moments) in the video (shown by The Score). Regardless, it was super creative and I’m sure took hours and hours to go from ideation, creation to execution of the post.

Another Great Video: The Cowboys Prank Call

While a majority of the fans of the 31 other NFL teams don’t typically like the Dallas Cowboys, I like the creativity they put behind their prank call NFL release video and all of the celebrities in it.

Finally, did the Cleveland Browns plagiarize a clothing company’s viral video?

Here is the Cleveland Browns’ schedule release video:

And here is a video response by Mugsy’s Head of Growth and Brand Cael Schwartz on what appears to be plagiarism by the Dawg Pound:

I clearly see the blatant similarities and I would be upset if I worked for Mugsy too. But, this happens all the time in sports social media and Mugsy is a small clothing brand. Not sure they have a “big enough dog in the fight” against the Browns.

If you made it this far in my 1,200+ word newsletter, I applaud you! Keep reading every week on Mondays and tune into my NFL Schedule Release breakdown next week.

Have a great week, SMSports Weekly Fam 🚀