Serena Williams

Serena Williams versus NFL player Harrison Butker isn’t a fair fight.

The all-time tennis great was on stage at the ESPYS Thursday night for a segment celebrating women’s sports, alongside her sister Venus and Abbott Elementary star Quinta Brunson. The dynamic trio poked fun at the nonstop caterwauling about Caitlin Clark, saying many members of the sports media apparently believe “this is the first year ever that women played basketball.”

Towards the end of the bit, Venus closed with a simple message to the audience about women’s sports fandom. “Go ahead and enjoy women’s sports like you would any other sports, because they are sports,” she quipped.

That’s when Serena brought up Butker, who persuaded women to stay at home and start families in his now-infamous college commencement speech.

“Except you, Harrison Butker. We don’t need you,” she said.

Brunson, an Emmy Award winner, added a verbal exclamation point.

“At all. Like, ever,” she said.

The best part is, Butker was in attendance to hear their jabs. The Kansas City Chiefs kicker showed up solo to the ESPYS, wearing a cream-colored tux and pinstripe pants.

Butker’s appearance at the ESPYS, ESPN’s annual sports award show, was his first high-profile outing since he addressed graduating students at Benedictine College in May. A conservative Catholic school in Kansas, Benedictine students are probably quite familiar with religious doctrine. But Butker proceeded to spew misogyny and hate.

He railed against gender ideology and Pride Month, telling students to take pride in biblical teachings–not their LGBTQ+ orientation. 

“Not the deadly sins sort of Pride that has an entire month dedicated to it, but the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the holy ghost to glorify him,” he lectured.

The climax of his speech came when he encouraged women to retreat into the kitchen.

“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic 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,” he said.

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As one of the best tennis players ever, Serena is a shining example of how women can succeed professionally and start a family… when they want to. She and her husband, Alexis Ohanian, welcomed their first daughter in 2017, and second last August.

Serena retired from tennis for good in 2022, with 73 career titles.

Butker’s coaches, meanwhile, don’t even trust him to tackle…

In the aftermath of Butker’s speech, he was exposed as a fraud in every single way. We found out his mother didn’t embrace her role as a homemakers; but rather, her career as a physicist. She currently works in the department of radiation oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Even the nuns at Benedictine College–yes, the nuns—denounced Butker’s outdated remarks.

“Our community has taught young women and men not just how to be ‘homemakers’ in a limited sense, but rather how to make a Gospel-centered, compassionate home within themselves where they can welcome others as Christ, empowering them to be the best versions of themselves. We reject a narrow definition of what it means to be Catholic,” they said in a statement.

In case anyone was wondering, it doesn’t seem like Butker reconsidered his views amidst the backlash. He addressed another group of students at the Regina Caeli Academy in Nashville, and reiterated his regressive stances. 

“If it wasn’t clear that the timeless Catholic values are hated by many, it is now,” he said. “As to be expected, the more I’ve talked about what I value most, which is my Catholic faith, the more polarizing I’ve become. It’s a decision I’ve consciously made and one I do not regret at all.”

That’s good to hear, because Butker’s reputation has taken a huge hit. Previously, he was just known as a Super Bowl champion and one of the best kickers in the NFL. But now, as Thursday night showed, he’s a laughingstock.

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