Superbowl-winning Chiefs kicker wears pro-life message in White House visit with team

Harrison Butker, placekicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, donned a subtle, yet profound pro-life message for the Superbowl-winning team’s visit to the White House this week.

Butker, an outspoken Catholic, adorned a tie featuring a simple Latin phrase, “Vulnerari Praesidio,” meaning “protecting the most vulnerable,” during his visit to the White House on Monday to commemorate the 2022-23 NFL Championship. Butker complimented the tie with a gold pin in the shape of feet, representing the exact size of a 10-week-old preborn baby’s feet.

“I want to give the most vulnerable, the unborn, a voice at a place where every effort has been made to allow and normalize the tragic termination of their lives,” Butker said in a statement on Tuesday about the visit.

“As a father who has experienced three miscarriages, my wife and I understand the hardships that come with losing a child,” he also said. “Every life is precious and should be valued whether outside or inside the womb.” 

“This is what real masculinity looks like, courageously standing up for the most vulnerable, the preborn,” pro-life activist Anna Lulis tweeted on Tuesday along with a photo of Butker, standing with his teammates behind President Biden 

The beliefs of the two-time Super Bowl champion stand in stark contrast to a presidential administration widely regarded as the most pro-abortion in history. Live Action, a pro-life organization that helped Butker design the tie, released a statement praising the kicker’s decision to stand up for the unborn. 

“President Biden is a professing Catholic who, as the most powerful man in the world, is responsible for leading the most pro-abortion administration in our history that has overseen a horrific death toll of 2,548 children every day lost to abortion,” said Lila Rose, Live Action’s founder and president. 

Butker’s display of such a clear pro-life sentiment in front of the current administration was, according to Live Action, a “powerful message to the world.” 

It’s not the first time Butker has openly, respectfully shared his faith. During an interview with Catholic News Agency shortly after his game-winning kick in this year’s Super Bowl, Butker expressed his appreciation for the opportunity but emphasized that it paled in comparison to sharing his faith. 

“I’m not just making kicks so that I can make money and I can puff myself up as this great person that people want to be like one day,” he said. “I’m making kicks because God wants me to have a platform, at least for right now, to share this message of faith, of growing in virtue, of growing closer to the sacraments and of being a saint. 

“[God’s] given me a voice for a lot of people that aren’t able to voice their opinions. I put so much into being the best kicker I can possibly be and for whatever reason, God has allowed me to continue to be successful as a kicker. I’m so thankful for that. My success in football has given me a pedestal and I feel a responsibility to raise awareness to different issues that I think God wants me to bring to the forefront.”