“Harrison Butker, interestingly enough, is wide right!”
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker found himself trending for all the wrong reasons Friday night — and not just because he missed a game-tying kick.
The three-time Super Bowl champion botched a crucial extra point in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers, leaving the Chiefs trailing after Patrick Mahomes’ 11-yard rushing touchdown. The Chargers went on to win 27-21 in a stunning upset.
But what sent social media into overdrive was not the miss itself — it was how veteran broadcaster Rich Eisen decided to call it.
“Harrison Butker, interestingly enough, is wide right!” Eisen quipped on the live broadcast alongside NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner.
Within hours, the clip exploded across X, racking up over 4.5 million views and sparking a fiery online debate.
To many, Eisen’s comment wasn’t just a reference to the ball sailing right of the uprights. Butker, 29, has been an outspoken conservative voice in the NFL, endorsing President Donald Trump and Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), while openly calling abortion “the most crucial topic” of his political beliefs.
In a 2024 statement, Butker called Trump “the most pro-life president” and urged Americans to “fight for the most vulnerable, fight for the unborn.”
That made Eisen’s “wide right” line feel like more than just a coincidence to some viewers. Fans flooded social media with reactions:
- “Rich Eisen didn’t have to cook him like that,” one user joked.
- “That was a political shot disguised as a sports call. Legendary,” another wrote.
- Others came to Butker’s defense, accusing Eisen of “injecting politics into football.”
This isn’t the first time Butker has made headlines off the field.
Last year, his faith-based commencement speech at Benedictine College sparked outrage after he criticized feminism, LGBTQ+ rights, and abortion access. Despite the backlash, his jersey sales skyrocketed, making him one of the NFL’s most popular players among conservative fans.
And while the controversy raged, Butker’s bank account flourished. In 2024, he signed a record-breaking deal that made him the highest-paid kicker in NFL history.
Eisen, 55, a veteran sports broadcaster and host of The Rich Eisen Show, is known for weaving humor into his calls, but fans say this one hit differently.
Sports analyst Mike Florio told Pro Football Talk:
“Rich knows exactly what he’s doing. That wasn’t accidental — it was surgical. And judging by the reaction online, it worked.”
For now, Eisen hasn’t addressed the viral moment, but with the Chiefs’ loss and Butker’s political history in the mix, this story is far from over.
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