Super Bowl star Harrison Butker made headlines over the last several days after delivering a powerful commencement address to the Benedictine College graduates on May 11, 2024.
Butker's commencement address resulted in a major uptick in jersey sales. His jersey is currently the top-selling Kansas City Chiefs jersey on the NFL's website.
Butker's address discussed Catholic values regarding marriage, family, gender ideologies, and abortion. He also touched on what he believes was the Church's mishandling of the pandemic.
Butker insisted that Catholics must speak out against the evils of the culture.
"If we are going to be men and women for this time in history, we need to stop pretending that the 'Church of Nice' is a winning proposition," Butker said early in his speech. "We must always speak and act in charity, but never mistake charity for cowardice."
"As members of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, it is our duty and ultimately privilege to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic," he said.
"Never be afraid to profess the one holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church, for this is the Church that Jesus Christ established, through which we receive sanctifying grace," he said during his concluding remarks.
As of Fri., May 17, 2024, Butker's address generated over one million views on the Benedictine YouTube account and became a hot topic of discussion amongst the media.
Following Butker's address, his football jersey sales skyrocketed.
According to the NFL website, Butker's #7 jersey is currently the top-selling jersey for the Kansas City Chiefs. His jersey ranks above popular players like Travis Kelce and quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Butker's jersey ranks #7 on the NFL website in overall sales.
The NFL shop is not the only store to experience an uptick in Butker jersey sales.
According to the Kansas City, Mo. news station KCTV, Butker's jerseys sold out at one Kansas City Rally House location.
“My first two phone calls were about jerseys, t-shirts, jerseys, anything we had Butker-wise,” store manager Aaron Lewis told KCTV in a May 16 story.
“He has sold more than Kelce and Mahomes today – just the demand after the speech, it’s been men and women – it’s been both calling to get his jersey.”
Social media users respond after Harrison Butker's jersey sales surged following Benedictine College address
Numerous news outlets and social media accounts discussed Butker's top-selling jersey, particularly due to his viral faith-based speech.
Peter J. Hasson, editor at the Washington Free Beacon, posted an image of the jersey rankings on the NFL's website. The post generated 11,000 likes, 220 comments, and over one million views as of this writing.
Harrison Butker's jersey is currently above Patrick Mahomes' in the NFL's bestseller list pic.twitter.com/84bKxkBcFb
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) May 16, 2024
Here's how some users responded:
One user said, "Gonna buy for my three Catholic boys!"
Another person commented, "Saw that coming. I'll buy one for any Chiefs fan unable to."
This user added, "Not a KC fan, just got one myself."
Another user said, "I’m ordering 3 today, one for me and two for each of my sisters! They loved his message as well."