Kansas City Chiefs

Travis Kelce is coming to Harrison Butker's defense ... insisting the Kansas City Chiefs kicker is both "a great person and a great teammate."

The future Hall of Famer made the comments on the latest episode of his "New Heights" podcast Friday ... touching publicly on his pal's controversial Benedictine College speech for the first time since it sparked a slew of outrage earlier this month.

Many, of course, had been itching for Kelce's opinion on the matter ... especially after Butker evoked the name of the tight end's girlfriend, Taylor Swift, during the polarizing chat with graduates.

After two weeks of outrage, Harrison Butker's controversial commencement speech finally resulted in someone's firing -- it just wasn't the Chiefs' placekicker who lost his job -- but instead, a member of the City of K.C.'s social media team got the axe after doxxing the Super Bowl champ.

On Thursday, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas revealed the city "separated" from a K.C. staffer who publicly roasted 28-year-old Butker after his Benedictine College speech, tweeting, "Just a reminder that Harrison Butker lives in the City of Lee's Summit."

The message was deleted shortly after ... and an apology put up in its place -- "We apologies (sic) for our previous tweet. It was shared in error."

Patrick Mahomes is sticking up for Harrison Butker ... praising the kicker as a man of good character following his controversial commencement speech earlier this month.

Butker is at the center of a ton of criticism after speaking at Benedictine College's graduation ceremony ... in which he shared his views that many considered sexist, anti-gay and politically divisive.

The Kansas City superstar addressed the Butker backlash with reporters at Chiefs practice on Wednesday ... and while he said the two might not see eye-to-eye on every issue, he still understands his teammate to be a good guy.

Roger Goodell just addressed Harrison Butker's controversial commencement speech ... and he didn't take a stance on it one way or the other, opting instead to simply praise the NFL's "diversity of opinions."

The Chiefs kicker's polarizing Benedictine College talk came up at the end of Goodell's chat with media members on Wednesday at the Spring League Meeting in Nashville ... when a reporter wondered if the NFL's commissioner had further thoughts on the matter.

Many, of course, had hoped Goodell would admonish Butker -- after critics called the KC star's words anti-gay and misogynistic.

The photographer who initially accused Rashee Rice of assault now no longer wants to press charges against the Kansas City Chiefs star, according to the Dallas Police Department ... but an investigation remains ongoing.

The photog first alleged that Rice clocked him during an altercation outside of Lit Kitchen in Dallas on May 6 ... but the DPD said in a statement he recently signed an affidavit of non-prosecution.

It doesn't necessarily mean Rice is now in the clear -- the DPD said a probe into the allegations is still moving forward -- although a case against the NFLer now no doubt got substantially more difficult to prove.

Travis Kelce looks like he's feeling pretty damn good after his whirlwind trip to Europe with Taylor Swift ... bringing a renewed energy to his music festival this weekend, and letting everyone know just how freakin' happy he is.

The NFL star was all smiles Saturday as he arrived at the Azura Amphitheater in Kansas City for Kelce Jam -- where he casually dressed in a t-shirt, jeans and a bucket hat.

Lil Wayne, Diplo and 2 Chainz served as headliners ... and Patrick Mahomes even showed up, hitting the stage with TK at one point.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce didn't let some bad weather derail their romantic getaway in Lake Como ... flaunting some serious PDA on a boat, where it was just the 2 of them.

Check out these awesome pics ... the singer and the NFL star share a sweet kiss while enjoying a boat ride in the scenic Italian resort town. Taylor, dressed in a black dress and tan overcoat, cuddles up to Travis ... who stayed warm by wearing a black and white sweater.

There's no question Taylor and Travis enjoyed their outing ... as they happily posed for several pics for a photog who was snapping away, both on the boat and the lake's dock.

If you're waiting on Harrison Butker to get cut, don't hold your breath ... especially not after a member of the Hunt family just went to bat for the kicker in a big way.

Gracie Hunt, daughter of owner Clark Hunt, and granddaughter of team founder Lamar Hunt, appeared on Fox & Friends Friday morning from outside a church in Dallas, where she was asked for a "reaction from the Hunt family regarding the kicker, Harrison Butker."

"I can only speak from my own experience, which is I had the most incredible mom who had the ability to stay home and be with us as kids growing up," Gracie said, referencing her stay-at-home mom.

The controversial commencement speech Harrison Butker gave over the weekend has apparently made him one of the most popular players in the NFL ... as his jersey sales have exploded in the days following the polarizing talk.

According to NFL.com, Butker's red Chiefs No. 7 uni is now amongst the league's "Top Sellers" -- right up there with C.J. Stroud, Saquon Barkley and Caleb Williams.

In fact, the league's website appeared to indicate that Butker's threads are an even bigger seller than those belonging to his star teammates, Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

Harrison Butker's critics are on the move, but so are his defenders -- 'cause 2 different petitions are floating around ... one wants him off the Chiefs, another wants him to stay.

A Change.org petition is circulating and going viral -- as it demands his dismissal from the Chiefs over what they believe to be discriminatory remarks ... and at this point, it's got a helluva lot of signatures, nearly hitting its 150,000 goal since it started a few days ago.

The petition, which popped up 2 days after his polarizing commencement speech, really goes after HB ... accusing him of using his platform to spread harm instead of unity, and pushing harmful stereotypes that threaten progress. However, there's an opposite movement in his favor.

Harrison Butker's speech is uniting much of Kansas City against his controversial views, but the Chiefs still need to make a statement disavowing their kicker's beliefs ... so says a prominent city leader.

Justice Horn, the city's former LGBTQ+ commissioner, joined us Thursday on "TMZ Live" to share his thoughts on HB's commencement speech ... and, he says citizens are pretty much in lockstep in challenging his views.

Horn says the opinions Harrison expressed -- about women and the LGBTQ+ community -- are not part of mainstream discourse, and, quite frankly ... he says they shouldn't be.

Whoopi Goldberg is coming to Harrison Butker's defense following his controversial college address -- but she's not so much agreeing with what he said ... more so his right to say it.

The TV star came out swinging on Thursday's episode of "The View" ... saying the Chiefs star was technically right to speak his mind during his speech this past weekend, especially since he's a devout Catholic addressing a Catholic college.

WG says that while she doesn't agree with Butker -- noting that the women at the commencement didn't have to either -- she still feels like he was within his right to speak his views.

More bad news for the Chiefs this offseason ... the team's first-round pick, Xavier Worthy, had his car stolen in Kansas City earlier this week.

According to the Kansas City Police Dept., Worthy's ride was reported missing on Monday morning ... after it had been "parked, secured and intact" at the Two Light Apartment complex in K.C. just hours earlier.

Pro Football Talk reported Thursday those close to Worthy believe it was lifted "by a professional group of criminals who 'knew exactly what they were doing.'" No arrests have been made in the case, however.

Cam Newton just delivered an impassioned speech to Rashee Rice ... warning the Chiefs star that if he doesn't shape up soon -- his time in the NFL could be over in a flash.

The former Carolina Panthers quarterback sent the message loud and clear on his "4th & 1 with Cam Newton" podcast this week ... going off on Rice for around five minutes over the recent decisions that have led to police investigations.

Newton advised the wide receiver to lay as low as possible going forward ... explaining that's the only way he can now guarantee himself the best possibility at a long-term future in the NFL.

Harrison Butker got disowned by Kansas City following his controversial commencement speech -- at least briefly on social media -- with the city's official X account dissing the Chiefs kicker amid the backlash ... before later issuing an apology.

The @KansasCity page -- which dons the gray badge for government-verified handles -- shaded the hell outta the three-time Super Bowl champion on Wednesday ... saying, "Just a reminder that Harrison Butker lives in the City of Lee's Summit."

FYI -- Lee's Summit is about half an hour outside of Kansas City, and a solid 20 from Arrowhead Stadium. Essentially, the account was saying "dude's not one of us!!!"

Travis Kelce's teammate, Harrison Butker, is in a bit of hot water with some Swifties ... who are furious with the Chiefs kicker for the way he evoked Taylor Swift's name during a controversial commencement speech over the weekend.

The polarizing talk with graduates happened Saturday at Benedictine College -- a Catholic school in Atchison, Kansas -- and some of his comments have people outraged, to say the least.

The Kansas City special teamer railed against Joe Biden, COVID policies, the LGBTQ community and abortion during his 20 minutes at the dais ... and even at one point, he said he believes a woman's "most important title" should be "homemaker."