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No evidence Andy Reid vowed to leave Chiefs if team boots Butker. That's satire | Fact check

chris mueller, usa today
·4 min read

The claim: Andy Reid vowed to leave Kansas City Chiefs if team releases Harrison Butker

A May 18 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows side-by-side images of Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and head coach Andy Reid.

"Andy Reed (sic) says he'll stand with Harrison Butker: 'If they get rid of Harrison, they get rid of me,'" reads text on the images.

The post's caption includes another purported quote, "'I'm not losing a great kicker to this whole woke thing. Not on my watch.'"

Many commenters appeared to believe the statements attributed to Reid were legitimate, such as one that read, "Thanks Coach Reed (sic) and Harrison, glad somebody’s still got some backbone."

The post was shared more than 11,000 times in three days.

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Our rating: False

The claim originated on a satirical website. No credible reports support the claim that Reid promised to leave the team if it released Butker.

Claim originated as satire

Butker has faced a wave of criticism since his May 11 commencement speech at Benedictine College, during which he attacked Pride Month, transgender people and the coronavirus pandemic, and said women should aspire to be "homemakers," as USA TODAY previously reported.

“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you,” Butker said during his 20-minute speech at the private, Catholic liberal arts school in Atchison, Kansas. “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."

The NFL has already distanced itself from Butker's comments. Jonathan Beane, the league's chief diversity and inclusion officer, said the kicker's "views are not those of the NFL as an organization." More than 200,000 people have signed a Change.org petition urging the Chiefs to get rid of Butker.

However, no credible news reports support the post's claim. There is no evidence Reid had publicly commented on Butker's speech as of May 21. The team also had not released any official statements about it as of May 17, The Kansas City Star reported.

Fact check: No, Harrison Butker didn't claim remarks were taken out of context. That's satire

In the first comment, the social media user who created the post links to an article that repeats the post's claim but provides no evidence to support it.

The claim originated with America’s Last Line of Defense, which labels itself as satire on its Facebook page and website. The Facebook post is an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where posts or stories written as satire and presented that way originally are captured via screenshot and reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, as was the case here.

Some people connected to the Chiefs have been supportive of Butker, including defensive tackle Chris Jones, who posted a positive message for the kicker on X, formerly Twitter. Gracie Hunt, the daughter of Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, said during a May 17 appearance on Fox News' "Fox and Friends" that she respects Butker for "his Christian faith and what he’s accomplished on and off the field.”

Butker has been the Chiefs kicker since 2017. In that time, he has won three Super Bowls with the team.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Reid didn't say he'd quit if Chiefs get rid of Butker | Fact check