Between Harrison Butker, Rashee Rice and other off-field developments, the Chiefs are having a rough offseason

May is a quiet time in the NFL. The Kansas City Chiefs were probably happy with some downtime.

Then her kicker made national news with a speech that was condemned in various corners of America’s expanding culture war as being insulting to women and the LGBTQ+ community.

Harrison Butker, in a college commencement speech, talked about how women have been told “diabolical lies” about entering the workforce, but “most of you are more excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.” . He then tried Pride Month as part of the “deadly sins.” Suddenly, the Chiefs kicker became the latest character on social media, and the NFL had to release a statement distancing itself from Butker’s comments.

Whenever a team in any sport starts winning a lot, it’s easy to start disliking them. So the tide was already turning against the Chiefs after three Super Bowl wins in five seasons and two in a row.

But the Chiefs are giving jaded fans plenty of reasons to turn against them. Butcher included, increasing sales of side shirts.

Lots of negative headlines for Kansas City

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots were warm, cuddly underdogs for America once. And truth.

They were a great story after beating the St. Louis Rams in their first Super Bowl at the end of the 2001 season. Then they started winning more. Spygate and Deflategate happened. There were other headlines that added fuel. Before long, virtually everyone except Patriots fans were actively rooting against them. It happens.

This will happen with the Chiefs as well. And they are speeding up the process.

It should be hard not to like the Chiefs. Andy Reid is a great trainer and friendly character. Patrick Mahomes is the most exciting quarterback we’ve ever seen and he’s also very likable. Even they were the target of criticism and memes on social media for shouting and criticizing authorities last season, for which they were fined. So some controversial headlines could help football fans turn against the Chiefs.

There was overexposure with the Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift storyline. Not everyone was against it, but many had a visceral reaction to seeing a pop star on their televisions multiple times every Chiefs game. There was even a conspiracy theory that the NFL scheduled a Chiefs game in Buffalo near a Swift tour stop in Toronto at that time. The NFL denied it, but it wouldn’t be the first time the league tried to please Swift.

Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice was looking great at the end of his rookie season and looked like a rising star. Then there was a car accident in April involving sports cars speeding and crashing into innocent people, and Rice’s lawyer said Rice was driving the Lamborghini at the scene that was captured on video. The NFL could suspend him for several games.

Also this offseason, Missouri Governor Mike Parson came under fire after commuting the sentence of former Chiefs assistant coach Britt Reid, Andy Reid’s son, after he was convicted of DWI following an accident in which a girl from 5 years old was seriously injured. . Reid got a three-year prison sentence, which was a plea deal lower than the maximum sentence of seven years, and was commuted by Parson after 16 months.

The Chiefs were going through a rough offseason long before Butker gave his commencement speech.

Chiefs had a long offseason

The Chiefs would have turned into the enemy anyway. In this age of social media, when a team wins too much, fans start to turn against them. Chiefs fans will continue to enjoy the journey, but almost everyone will start to expect them to lose.

There were other headlines that hurt the Chiefs, although there’s no reason to dislike them. Violence broke out at the Super Bowl parade. Voters rejected a stadium tax for renovations at Arrowhead Stadium, putting the Chiefs’ future in Kansas City in doubt. Rookie first-round pick Xavier Worthy said he had your car stolen outside the parking lot of his apartment complex. It’s been a long offseason for the Chiefs.

The Chiefs should be excited about their quest for a third consecutive Super Bowl championship, something no other team has achieved. Instead, there were many other things to distract them.

It’s already been a tough offseason in Kansas City. And there are still about four months until the start of the regular season.