Harrison Butker
Harrison Butker (born July 14, 1995) is an American football kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL).
He played college football at Georgia Tech, and was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL draft. He is second in NFL history in career field goal percentage (minimum 100 attempts) with 89.1. Butker led the NFL in scoring in 2019, and is a three-time Super Bowl champion, having won LIV, LVII and LVIII with the Chiefs. He is nicknamed "Butt Kicker" (a play-on-words on his last name and position).
.jpg) Butker in 2023 | |||||||||
| No. 7 – Kansas City Chiefs | |||||||||
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| Position: | Kicker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | July 14, 1995 Decatur, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Westminster (Atlanta, Georgia) | ||||||||
| College: | Georgia Tech (2013–2016) | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2017 / Round: 7 / Pick: 233 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 18, 2023 | |||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||
Early years
Butker went to The Westminster Schools, where he played on the football team after picking up the sport as a rising sophomore. He broke the school record (at the time) for a field goal of 53 yards. He was a three-sport athlete in basketball, football, and soccer, winning three state championships in soccer, and, for all four years, the first-chair tuba player for the school's (upperclassmen) symphonic band.
College career
Butker played at Georgia Tech from 2013 through 2016 under head coach Paul Johnson. Butker is the all-time leading scorer in school history and was a captain of the team for his senior season. In his collegiate career, he converted 208-of-210 extra point attempts and 43-of-60 field goal attempts. He graduated from the school with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering.
Professional career
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers selected Butker in the seventh round with the 233rd overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft. On May 5, 2017, the Panthers signed Butker to a four-year, $2.48 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $83,112. He was waived on September 13, 2017, and was signed to the practice squad the next day.
Kansas City Chiefs
2017 season
On September 26, 2017, Butker was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs off the Panthers' practice squad. Butker made his debut in the Chiefs' week 4 game against the Washington Redskins. He missed his first career field goal attempt of 46 yards. He made his next 3 attempts, including the game winning field goal. In the following game against the Houston Texans, Butker made all five of his field goal attempts. In Week 8, he converted five field goals earning the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. For the month of October, he was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month. In Week 16, Butker converted five field goals earning him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week again. Overall, in the 2017 season, he converted all 28 extra point attempts and 38-of-42 field goal attempts. Butker was named as an alternate to the 2018 Pro Bowl. He finished the season tied for fourth in scoring with Chris Boswell with 142 points.
2018 season
In Week 2, Butker converted a career-high six extra points in the 42–37 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Overall, in the 2018 season, he converted 65 of 69 extra point attempts and 24 of 27 field goal attempts.
2019 season
On April 15, 2019, Butker signed his exclusive rights free agent tender with the Chiefs. The tender gave him a one-year contract worth $645,000. On June 13, 2019, he signed a five-year extension worth $20.3 million.
In Week 9 against the Minnesota Vikings, Butker made four field goals, including a 44-yard game-winner earning him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Butker was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November. Butker led the NFL in regular season field goals with 34 made field goals. He finished the regular season with 45-of-48 extra points converted and 34-of-38 field goals converted.
Butker won his first Super Bowl in Super Bowl LIV. He converted all four extra point attempts and his only field goal attempt, a 31-yarder in the second quarter.
2020 season
In the Chiefs' Week 2 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Butker made all three field goal attempts he had in the game, including a franchise record tying 58-yarder, a game tying 30-yard field goal as time expired in regulation, and the game winning and franchise record tying 58-yard field goal to win 23–20 in overtime. The longest field goal record was broken in 2022 while Butker was injured. For his performance, he was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. After his fifth missed extra point of the season in a Week 7 game against the Broncos, Butker set a career high for missed extra points in a season despite only attempting 24 extra points up to that point. He finished the 2020 season converting 25-for-27 field-goal attempts and 48-for-54 on extra-point attempts. In Super Bowl LV, Butker scored all of the Chiefs' 9 points in the loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
2021 season
Butker was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on December 20, 2021 after testing positive for COVID-19. Due to the NFL's COVID-19 protocols, he missed the Chiefs' Week 16 game against the Steelers. It was the first game of his career he missed. He was activated on December 29, 2021. In the 2021 season, Butker appeared in 16 games and converted 47-of-49 extra point attempts and 25-of-28 field goal attempts.
In the divisional round against the Buffalo Bills, he converted a 49-yard game-tying field goal in regulation to force overtime in the 42–36 victory.
2022 season
Despite suffering an ankle injury in the game, Butker made a 54-yard field goal and all four extra point attempts in the Chiefs' Week 1 win over the Arizona Cardinals. The day before the Chiefs’ Week 2 game against the Chargers, he was ruled out due to the ankle injury. He was inactive for the Chiefs next four games. In his first game back from the injury against the Bills, he broke the Chiefs' franchise record for longest field goal for the second time (his previous record of 58 had been broken while he was injured) with a 62 yard field goal. It was the 15th field goal in NFL history 62 yards or longer. In his first five games after returning from injury, he missed an extra point or a field goal in each of those games, the longest such streak of his career. He ended the streak making all three field goal attempts and all three extra point attempts in Week 11 against the Chargers. Due to the injury, with the missed time and the injury causing kicking issues, he had what was statistically the worst season of his career. He had a career low field goal percentage (75%), a career high in misses (6), and a career low in attempts (24). In the AFC Championship Game, Butker hit a 45-yard game winning field goal to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 23–20 to send the Chiefs to Super Bowl LVII. In the Super Bowl, Butker kicked a 27-yard game winning field goal with 11 seconds in the 4th quarter to give the Chiefs a 38–35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles to win his second Super Bowl in his career.
2023 season
Butker began the season making his first 24 field goals before his first miss in Week 15. In Week 17 against the Cincinnati Bengals, Butker went 6-for-6 on field goals and was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance. His 6 field goals made set a career high. Butker finished the season making 33 of his 35 attempts tying a career low for missed field goals and setting a career high in field goal percentage with 94.3%. Butker made all 12 of his attempts from over 40 yards, including his second successful field goal from over 60 yards. Butker did not miss a single extra point attempt for the 2nd time in his career. Butker's performance in the 2023 season moved him back into second place in NFL history in career field goal percentage (minimum 100 attempts).
In Super Bowl LVIII, Butker broke two Super Bowl records: longest made field goal in Super Bowl history (57) and most career field goals in the Super Bowl (9). The Chiefs won the game 25–22. The win gave Butker his third Super Bowl victory and his second consecutive win. The win made Butker the fourth kicker in NFL history with three Super Bowl wins.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won the Super Bowl | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Overall FGs | PATs | Kickoffs | Points | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blk | Lng | FGA | FGM | Pct | XPA | XPM | Pct | Blk | KO | TB | ||||
| 2017 | KC | 13 | 0 | 53 | 42 | 38 | 90.5 | 28 | 28 | 100 | 0 | 78 | 61 | 142 |
| 2018 | KC | 16 | 0 | 54 | 27 | 24 | 88.9 | 69 | 65 | 94.2 | 1 | 110 | 72 | 137 |
| 2019 | KC | 16 | 1 | 56 | 38 | 34 | 89.5 | 48 | 45 | 93.8 | 0 | 98 | 60 | 147 |
| 2020 | KC | 16 | 0 | 58 | 27 | 25 | 92.6 | 54 | 48 | 88.9 | 1 | 95 | 72 | 123 |
| 2021 | KC | 16 | 0 | 56 | 28 | 25 | 89.3 | 49 | 47 | 95.9 | 0 | 93 | 61 | 122 |
| 2022 | KC | 13 | 1 | 62 | 24 | 18 | 75.0 | 41 | 38 | 92.7 | 0 | 68 | 44 | 92 |
| 2023 | KC | 17 | 0 | 60 | 35 | 33 | 94.3 | 38 | 38 | 100 | 0 | 85 | 74 | 137 |
| Total | 107 | 2 | 62 | 221 | 197 | 89.1 | 327 | 309 | 94.5 | 2 | 627 | 444 | 900 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | Overall FGs | PATs | Points | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lng | FGA | FGM | Pct | XPA | XPM | Pct | ||||
| 2017 | KC | 1 | – | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 100 | 3 |
| 2018 | KC | 2 | 39 | 2 | 2 | 100 | 8 | 8 | 100 | 14 |
| 2019 | KC | 3 | 31 | 2 | 2 | 100 | 16 | 15 | 93.8 | 21 |
| 2020 | KC | 3 | 52 | 8 | 8 | 100 | 7 | 6 | 85.7 | 14 |
| 2021 | KC | 3 | 49 | 5 | 4 | 80.0 | 13 | 12 | 92.3 | 24 |
| 2022 | KC | 3 | 50 | 7 | 6 | 85.7 | 11 | 11 | 100 | 17 |
| 2023 | KC | 4 | 57 | 11 | 11 | 100 | 8 | 8 | 100 | 36 |
| Total | 19 | 57 | 35 | 32 | 91.4 | 66 | 63 | 95.5 | 132 | |
NFL record
- Field goals made by a rookie: 38
Super Bowl records
- Longest field goal in the Super Bowl: 57 yards (2024)
- Career field goals in the Super Bowl: 9
Chiefs franchise records
- Field goals made, season: 38 (2017)
- Points by a rookie: 142
- Points by a kicker, season: 142 (2017)
- Longest field goal: 62 yards (2022)
- Career field goal percentage (minimum 50 attempts): 89.1%
Personal life
Butker is married with two children.
He is a devout Catholic. Butker has publicly spoken out against Traditionis custodes, saying that he felt that he and other tradition-oriented Catholics were "persecuted" in the Church.
After finding out that she was a fan of his, Butker sent the family of Lisa Lopez-Galvan, who died in the mass shooting at the Chiefs' Super Bowl LVIII parade, one of his jerseys for her to be buried in. Lopez-Galvan, like Butker, was Catholic and was wearing Butker's jersey during the parade.
Other endeavors
Butker is the co-founder, president and COO of MDKeller. One of the companies that Butker co-founded as a subsidiary of MDKeller is Shepherd's that specializes in custom menswear.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Regina Caeli Academy, an accredited PK-12 Classical homeschool hybrid academy, located in cities across the United States and the United Kingdom.
He was the 2023 Undergraduate Graduation commencement speaker at his alma mater Georgia Tech, receiving international attention for his message to "get married and start a family," as well as "Sadly, we are encouraged to live our lives for ourselves to move from one thing to another with no long-term commitment. To have loyalty for nothing but ourselves and sacrifice only when it suits our own interests. This loneliness is rooted in the lies being sold about self-dependence and prioritizing our career over important relationships."
Politics
Butker supported the 2022 Kansas Value Them Both Amendment, which would have overridden a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court ruling that the Kansas constitution guarantees a right to abortion.
In 2023, Butker wore a pro-life tie while attending the Chiefs' Super Bowl LVII victory celebration at the White House in protest of Joe Biden's pro-choice views.
References
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Pro Football Reference
- Kansas City Chiefs bio
- Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bio
- Harrison Butker on Twitter
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