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Super Bowl winning Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker will be the keynote speaker for the 2024 Benedictine College Commencement Exercises set for May 11 in Atchison, Kansas, college officials have announced. Also being recognized at the ceremony will be Lieutenant General Arthur J. Gregg, who graduated from St. Benedict’s College, now Benedictine College, in 1964 and recently became the first Black man and the first living person to have a United States military base named after him.
“We are excited to introduce Harrison Butker and Lt. General Gregg to our graduating seniors this May,” said Benedictine College President Stephen D. Minnis. “These students missed their high school graduations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so we wanted to make it up to them with a truly memorable commencement experience.”
Butker is a devout Catholic, a professional NFL football player, a successful entrepreneur, noted philanthropist, and sought-after public speaker. In addition to setting records as a placekicker for the Chiefs, he is also the co-founder, president and COO of MDKeller, an American holding company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Kansas City, Missouri. The company’s holdings include Shepherd’s, Clear Cut Brands, MDK|MGMT, Madison Manufacturing, MDK Talent, and MDK & Associates. Each company operates independently but adheres to the core mission of “shared values, shared success.”
As a three-time Super Bowl Champion placekicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, Butker is one of the top kickers in the National Football League. He kicked the game-winning field goal in Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles and the game-winning field goal in the 2022 AFC Championship game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Additionally, he holds the Chiefs franchise and Arrowhead Stadium field goal record at 62 yards against the Arizona Cardinals in 2022. Having just finished his seventh season with the Chiefs, Butker set an NFL record for longest field goal in a Super Bowl at 57 yards in the third quarter of Super Bowl LVIII. He finished the season with a nearly perfect record, hitting 33 of 35 (94%) field goals for the entire season.
Butker is known for his God-given skills on the football field, but he says it is his faith that brings him the most joy. He is married to his high school sweetheart and together they have three children. He is an outspoken advocate for the Traditional Latin Mass, Pro-Life causes, and being a man of virtue, to name a few. He has appeared on countless shows, podcasts, and articles speaking to being a man in a world that is becoming increasingly secular and absent of God. By grounding himself in his vocation as a husband and father, Butker says he has been able to use his platform to push others to greater heights. He told Benedictine students about this during a visit to the campus in 2022, during which he shared his thoughts, as he put it, on “faith, family, and football, in that order.”
He supports many causes important to him and 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. Butker is the current Honorary Chairman for the Dream Factory of Greater Kansas City, an organization dedicated to helping make dreams come true for critically or chronically ill children.
Benedictine College
Source - Benedictine College Release
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