Harrison Butker was scrutinized for a faith-based commencement speech he gave earlier in the year, but it didn’t appear to have a negative effect on his product sales. Apparently, it did the opposite.
The NFL Players Association released data on sales of officially licensed NFL player merchandise from March 1 to May 31. The union said the data included sales from products that “range from adult and youth game jerseys, T-shirts, hoodies, bobbleheads, plush toys, socks, face coverings, headbands, figurines, wall decals, backpacks, pennants, photos, drinkware, pet products, and more.”
Butker was among the top 20 players of all officially licensed products sold, according to the NFLPA. He was ranked 11th on the list. He ranked higher than Travis Kelce, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Russell Wilson, Jared Goff and several others.
It was Butker’s first appearance on the NFLPA’s list and he is only the second placekicker to make it after Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson made it in 2022.
At the start of camp, Butker rebuffed the criticism he received over the speech which he suggested women should embrace the term “homemaker” and criticized President Biden for his stance on abortion while practicing the Catholic faith.
“I’m going to stand behind what it is I’m saying,” he said in August. “I kind of look at the offseason as a little bit of a maybe five-month period where I can just represent me as Harrison Butker as a faithful Catholic. And then, obviously, when it gets to the season, I try to focus as much as I can on football and not being a distraction for the Chiefs.”
Butker signed an historic contract extension as well.