The ESPYs are here, and with that, a new roast session has dropped. This year, it was tennis legend Serena Williams who was given the honor of opening and presenting the award show. As usual, Williams took some friendly jabs at her fellow athletes, who were in attendance. However, when it came to one Kansas City Chiefs player, Williams was not quite as friendly.
Serena, along with her sister Venus Williams and comedian/writer Quinta Brunson, took a shot at Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker. The trio roasted the kicker for his recent comments. (video and transcript via Awful Announcing on X)
“So, go ahead and enjoy women’s sports like you would any other sports, because they are sports.” – Venus Williams
“Except you, Harrison Butker. We don’t need you.” – Serena Williams
“At all. Like, ever.” – Quinta Brunson
Butker, of course, became infamous after his commencement speech for a Christian university went viral. The Chiefs kicker talked about traditional Christian values, but some fans were quick to point out some of the misogynistic undertones of the speech. In particular, one section of the speech went viral, where Butker denounced the “diabolical lies” told to women and encouraged them to embrace motherhood.
That message did not sit well with many on social media. The fallout from Butker’s speech was one of the many controversies that plagued the Chiefs in the offseason. Of course, there’s the much more serious cases of Rashee Rice, but other members of the team got involved with the law in some bad ways.
Butker was not the only personality that the trio targeted in their roasts. Just before their direct swipe at the Chiefs kicker, the Williams sisters and Brunson also hit at Pat McAfee for the controversy regarding Caitlyn Clark (who Serena praised as well). Serena Williams also took a swipe at infamous rapper Drake for his recent rap battle with Kendrick Lamar.
Chiefs’ presence at ESPYS
It wasn’t all just bad news and roasts for the Chiefs during the ESPYS. Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes took home Men’s Athlete of the Year for his 2023 season. While Mahomes did not win MVP this season. he did beat out the eventual MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens en route to a successful defense of their Super Bowl trophy.
With that win, Mahomes has earned three titles in his first six years in the league. The Chiefs star is already a Hall of Famer this early into his career, and he’s on track to challenge Tom Brady for the title of greatest of all time. That likely contributed to his selection as the Men’s Athlete of the Year. His competitors were Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, golf superstar Scottie Scheffler, and Edmonton Oilers phenom Connor McDavid.
The Chiefs are now gunning this season for the elusive three-peat. Few teams have ever been able to win three straight Super Bowls in the NFL’s long history. Kansas City has prepared for that grind by acquiring new wide receivers for Mahomes. Will they be able to do just that?
