The Heroic Harrison Butker Story His Critics Would Prefer You Not See

It's been nearly a month since NFL kicker Harrison Butker gave the decidedly unwoke speech at the commencement ceremony for Benedictine College that would catapult him into a national storm of media-driven outrage.

But though that story seems to have (mercifully) faded into the sunset, another one involving Butker hit the news this week, with this one centering around one of his Kansas City Chiefs teammates.

On Thursday, defensive end BJ Thompson went into cardiac arrest amid a team meeting and was taken to the hospital after the training staff and medical professionals stepped in:

When it comes to BJ Thompson, the Kansas City Chiefs got some fantastic news on Friday. Thompson's agent, Chris Turnage, told NFL Media that the defensive lineman is awake and responsive.
The positive prognosis comes just one day after Thompson had to be rushed to the hospital after suffering a medical emergency at the team facility. The 27-year-old suffered a seizure that caused him to go into cardiac arrest during a special teams meeting on Thursday morning, according to NFL Media. According to multiple reports, the Chiefs' trainers and medical staff responded to the situation immediately, which allowed Thompson to quickly get the treatment he needed.

Left out of some reports on what happened to Thompson was the fact that Butker was instrumental in getting him the help he needed in those crucial first few seconds:

While providing an update on Thompson's condition during a press conference on Friday, Chiefs Vice President of Sports Medicine and Performance Rick Burkholder said, "When he had the seizure, Butker immediately ran towards the training room" and grabbed additional assistance from team staff.

Watch:

#Chiefs head trainer Rick Burkholder told reporters that Harrison Butker ran to the training room to get trainers after BJ Thompson suffered a seizure and went into cardiac arrest on Thursday.

Thompson was brought out of sedation this morning. He is alert, awake, and recovering… pic.twitter.com/cZ2wSbONHi
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) June 7, 2024

Another teammate, safety Justin Reid, also praised Butker for his actions.

"Harrison's that guy. I mean, he loves all of us. And you know, we're family," Reid said, according to Fox4KC.

"This is so much deeper than just football. And yeah, I mean, we root for each other, and in a moment like that, you just have to call yourself into action," he also said. "Harrison did that. And the trainers moved so quickly to be able to rescue BJ and helped make it happen."

Justin Reid's comments reminded me of what coach Andy Reid (no relation) and quarterback Patrick Mahomes said of Butker as calls to cancel him were reaching a fever pitch in May.

"I’m going to judge him by the character he shows every day, and that’s a good person," Mahomes said at the time while emphasizing that Butker was "someone who cares about the people around him, cares about his family, and wants to make a good impact in society."

Andy Reid told reporters at the time when asked that "we all get along, we all respect each other's opinions and not necessarily do we go by those, but we respect everybody to have a voice" in the locker room while adding that he didn't feel the need to have a talk with Butker about it.

It's very good to know that Thompson is awake and responsive, and it's also encouraging to know that Butker continues to do his thing, just being himself while ignoring the outrage mobs. Good for him.