Jason Whitlock calls Travis Kelce a ‘knucklehead’ for neutral stance on Butker’s speech

Travis Kelce seemed well-prepped by his PR team on how to address the Harrison Butker situation. While he skillfully navigated the topic without directly praising or condemning Butker, his response still sparked controversy, particularly with Jason Whitlock.

The outspoken journalist took issue with Kelce’s diplomatic stance, considering it overly critical despite Kelce’s attempts to stay neutral.

The source of Whitlock’s anger was Kelce’s perceived attempt to appease everyone with his statement. Kelce distanced himself from Butker’s views, noting they were not his own but refrained from outright condemning Butker’s religious stance.

This “distancing” particularly irked Whitlock, who felt Kelce was pandering to social media rather than expressing genuine beliefs.

Whitlock accused Kelce of taking Butker “out of context,”: “Now he gets to pretend like he has some sort of mature sophisticated perspective on the world [but] he does not, because of the social media pressure and he’s thinking about how these words will land on social media, [so] he has to take Harrison Butker out of context.”