Harrison Butker will be under more pressure in 2024; will he deliver?
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has made plenty of big kicks. He has delivered under pressure. He has been as important to any NFL team as any kicker can be.
In 2024, he'll face even more pressure. His decision to enter the political fray with remarks that prompted outrage on one end of the political spectrum and outrage over the outrage on the other makes Butker something that most kickers rarely are: Conspicuous.
He'll be discussed more than most kickers. He'll hear about it from some fans in opposing stadiums. It will be just another factor that he'll need to manage when the time comes to make kicks.
Maybe he'll be unfazed. Maybe he won't. The process of making field goals on a consistent basis hinges on arriving at and residing in a mental sweet spot. Butker has given his own situation a good, hard shake.
The Chiefs are treating the issue as no big deal because they don't want Butker to be a big deal when football season rolls around. They want the situation to be forgotten. They want Butker to not be burdened by the blowback, or the blowback to the blowback.
We'll see how it goes. Sometimes, it doesn't take much for a kicker to get the yips. Blair Walsh, for example, missed a chip-shot field goal in the 2014 postseason and he was never the same.
If, for whatever reason, Butker suddenly can't kick like he has in seven seasons with the Chiefs, he won't be the Chiefs' kicker for long.
