Harrison Butker, the star kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs who now holds the all-time record for field goals in a Super Bowl (nine total), is not just an incredible kicker. He’s also a faithful Christian who has spoken about how his faith helps him make it through stressful games in which millions of eyes are upon him, saying that his conversations with God help him have the mental fortitude to make it through the stress.
Such is what Butker told the 2024 Stronger Men’s Conference in Springfield, Missouri. Speaking with Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri during the conference, Butker explained how prayer keeps him both grounded and able to perform his best during games, crediting it with his ability to remember that what is important is his being a “child of God” first and football player second.
He told Sen. Hawley and the audience during the conference, “I’ve had to take myself away from the ups and downs of the game, and really prayer on the sidelines has really helped me so much to detach and realize that, yes, football is important. Yes, I’m on the biggest stage – there’s millions of people watching, but I am a child of God, No. 1.”
Continuing, Butker explained that the situations in which he works are very high pressure but that prayer and remembering his play in the world is a “big reason” for his on-field success. He said, “I’m a child of God. I need to care about what Jesus thinks of me more than anyone else. How am I as a husband, and how am I as a father? And when you think about that it really takes away a lot of the pressure that the world can bring, that that stage can bring. And that’s also probably been a big reason for my successes.
Butker then explained that he tries to use his platform and audience, one granted by his high-profile role on a winning team, to teach others about the Lord and glorify Him, saying, “Understanding my place, understanding the role that football plays in my life that it’s an amazing platform that I’m so grateful for.” He added, “I’m trying to use the platform for Him, to glorify Him.”
Butker added he is grateful for the 2022 season, in which he was injured, because it helped him be a better son of God. He said, “I’m so thankful for that season because it did test my faith and it put me through so much adversity. . . . If anything, I think it was a blessing. I was a better son of God, and I was a better husband and a better father, and I think God was telling me, ‘Harrison, stop making football your idol.’”
He also commented on how incredible the season was, saying, “It’s pretty incredible to think that we even [have] the opportunity to win three Super Bowls in a row, but when you have a coach like Andy Reid, you have a great quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, you have Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, you have so many top tier players that are going to make sure we execute in the biggest of moments, and we showed that this season.”
Featured image credit: By Airman 1st Class William Lunn – https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7984088/chiefs-military-appreciation, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=136494880