Sports
Chiefs' Harrison Butker's injury sparks feminist celebrations and Trump Cabinet conspiracies on social media
The Buffalo Bills aren’t the only beneficiaries of the knee injury to Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker.
News of Butker’s injury came out Thursday evening ahead of the Chiefs-Bills showdown Sunday, and, for many liberals disgruntled with the outcome of the recent election, the news was a reprieve and cause for celebration on social media.
Several social media users posted in celebration of Butker’s injury, referencing the kicker’s previous comments on the benefit of women accepting domestic roles as mothers and wives and his endorsement of Trump.
One widely circulated post had a caption that said, “Women seeing Harrison Butker get injured,” attached to a video of a television audience standing up and cheering passionately.
Another user wrote, “Please take all of Harrison Butker’s pain and have it stay exactly where it is.”
Some users took the injury as an opportunity to knock Butker’s masculinity.
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker (7) kicks as punter Matt Araiza (49) holds during training camp at Missouri Western State University in Kansas City, Mo., July 26, 2024. (Denny Medley/USA Today Sports)
One post said, “real men don’t miss work.”
“Too busy bending the knee to Trump huh,” another post said.
However, some fans stepped up to defend Butker from the harsh responses.
“Any of y’all, Chiefs ‘fans’ that are celebrating the Butker injury because of his ‘politics’ go find another team for we don’t need that kind of negative energy,” one fan wrote.
Some used the injury as an opportunity to push conspiracy theories and make jokes about Butker being appointed for Trump’s Cabinet.
HARRISON BUTKER’S FAITH-DRIVEN COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS AT BENEDICTINE COLLEGE: READ THE SPEECH HERE
One user jokingly wrote, “Donald Trump announces that Harrison Butker will lead the Department of Women’s Rights and Home Affairs.”
Another user falsely wrote, “He’s holding out for a few weeks hoping for the ‘Director of Family Services’ cabinet position.”
The jokes and false claims about Butker come amid recent announcements of Trump’s Cabinet appointments, many of which have drawn praise and controversy. The appointments of Matt Gaetz as attorney general, Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense and Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency have been among the most discussed appointments in recent days.
Butker endorsed Trump and Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley in the recent election. The kicker announced his Upright PAC along with Hawley, earning the praise of Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.
The kicker’s shift into politics accelerated after he made remarks about women and their careers during a commencement address at Benedictine College.
“Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” Butker said at the time.
Shortly after the speech, Butker’s jersey sales soared. His jersey ranked 11th in NFL sales, from March 1 to May 31, the NFLPA said.
However, Butker’s speech also incited fierce and oftentimes emotional backlash from many in the mainstream media. Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins mocked Butker for being a kicker after delivering the remarks, while NBC’s “Today” host Hoda Kotb scolded the kicker, telling him “not to speak for women.”
Butker later told Fox News host Laura Ingraham he’s “saddened” some people took his words in a “poor manner.”
“I was trying to speak life for so many women that have dedicated their life to being the homemaker, being the one that raises the children. And it’s a beautiful role, but it’s not a role that should be diminished,” he explained.
“There’s nothing shameful if you are a woman, and you want to spend time with your family and raise your children. So, it’s not putting down anyone who maybe wants to go get a great education and have a career.
“But it’s more talking about how beautiful it is for women to maybe just step aside and prioritize their family and spend time with their children and raise their family. And that’s what I was just trying to speak love about.”
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Sports
Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo makes NBA history with 83-point game
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Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo made NBA history on Tuesday night.
Adebayo scored 83 points, all while setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards. It is the second-highest scoring game for a player ever, only to Wilt Chamberlain’s famed 100-point game.
“An absolutely surreal night,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after the game.
Adebayo started with a 31-point first quarter. He was up to 43 at halftime, 62 by the end of the third quarter. And then came the fourth, when the milestones kept falling despite facing double-, triple- and what once appeared to be a quadruple-team from a Wizards defense that kept sending him to the foul line.
He finished 20 of 43 from the field, 36 of 43 from the foul line, 7 for 22 from 3-point range.
After the game, he was seen in tears while he hugged his mother, Marilyn Blount, before leaving the floor after the game.
“Welp won’t have the highest career high in the house anymore,” Adebayo’s girlfriend, four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, wrote on social media, “but at least it gives me something to go after.”
MAGIC’S ANTHONY BLACK MAKES INCREDIBLE DUNK OVER FOUR DEFENDERS IN HISTORIC NBA GAME
Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat celebrates during the fourth quarter of the game against the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center on March 10, 2026, in Miami, Florida. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
The NBA’s previous best this season was 56, by Nikola Jokic for Denver against Minnesota on Christmas night. The last player to have 62 points through three quarters: one of Adebayo’s basketball heroes, Kobe Bryant, who had exactly that many through three quarters for the Los Angeles Lakers against Dallas on Dec. 20, 2005.
He wound up passing Bryant for single-game scoring as well. Bryant’s career-best was 81 — a game that was the second-best on the NBA scoring list for two decades.
Adebayo scored 31 points in the opening quarter against the Wizards, breaking the Heat record for points in any quarter — and tying the team record for points in a first half before the second quarter even started.
He finished the first half with 43 points, a team record for any half and two points better than his previous career high — for a full game, that is — of 41, set Jan. 23, 2021, against Brooklyn.
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Adebayo’s season high entering Tuesday was 32. He matched that with a free throw with 5:53 left in the second quarter, breaking the Heat first-half scoring record.
Adebayo’s 43-point first half was the NBA’s second-best in at least the last 30 seasons — going back to the start of the digital play-by-play era that began in the 1996-97 season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Sports
Kings lose in overtime to the Boston Bruins
BOSTON — Charlie McAvoy scored 39 seconds into overtime and Jeremy Swayman stopped 14 shots on Tuesday night to earn the Boston Bruins their 13th straight victory at home, 2-1 over the Kings.
Mason Lohrei scored midway through the third period to break a scoreless tie. But the Kings tied it five minutes later when Drew Doughty’s shot from the blue line deflected off the heel of Bruins forward Elias Lindholm and into the net.
It was the seventh straight time the teams had gone to overtime in Boston.
In the overtime, Mark Kastelic blocked a shot in the defensive zone and made a long pass to David Pastrnak, who waited for McAvoy to come into the zone. The Bruins’ defenseman and U.S. Olympian, who went to the locker room at the end of the second period after taking a puck off his mouth, skated in on Darcy Kuemper and went to his backhand for the winner.
Kuemper stopped 21 shots for the Kings, who entered the night one point out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. The victory kept Boston in possession of the East’s second wild-card spot.
Swayman tied his career high with his 25th win of the season. The Bruins haven’t lost at the TD Garden since before Christmas.
After the game, Kings forward and future Hall of Famer Anze Kopitar stayed on the ice to shake hands with the Bruins after what is expected to be his last game in Boston.
Sports
Jon Jones requests UFC release after Dana White says legend was ‘never’ considered him for White House card
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Mixed martial arts legend Jon Jones ended his retirement from UFC simply because he wanted a spot on the “Freedom 250” fight card at the White House in June.
But, when UFC CEO Dana White announced the card during UFC 326 this past weekend, Jones wasn’t among the fighters. As a result, he has requested a release from his UFC contract.
White was candid when asked about Jones following the UFC 326 card.
Jon Jones of the United States of America reacts after his TKO victory against Stipe Miocic of the United States of America in the UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 16, 2024 in New York City. ((Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images))
“Never, ever, ever, which I told you guys a hundred thousands times, was Jon Jones ever even remotely in my mind to fight at the White House,” White explained, per CBS Sports. “Some guy with Meta Glasses filmed him talking about his hips – that his hips are so bad. And I don’t know if you guys saw that flag football game where he can barely run. Jon Jones retired because of his hips. He’s got arthritis in his hips. Apparently, doctors say he should have a hip replacement.”
White added that “the Jon Jones thing is bulls—,” saying that he texted the fighter’s lawyer saying he would never be on the White House card despite Jones saying he was in negotiations for it.
UFC ANNOUNCES CARD FOR WHITE HOUSE EVENT
The Meta Glasses incident White is referring to came from a viral video, where Jones, unaware he was being filmed, discussed issues with his hips to a fan.
On Monday, Jones composed a thorough response to White’s comments about him and the White House Card. He previously posted and deleted social media explanations, but Monday’s appeared to be his final statement on the matter.
UFC President Dana White speaks after UFC Fight Night at Toyota Center on Feb. 21, 2026. (Troy Taormina/Imagn Images)
“Yes, I have arthritis in my hip and it’s painful, but that doesn’t mean I can’t fight,” Jones, who retired a heavyweight champion in 2025, said. “So let me get this straight, if I had accepted the lowball offer, suddenly my hip would be fine and I’d be on the White House card? That doesn’t make sense. I even received stem cell treatment last week to get ready for the White House card, and training camp was scheduled to start today. I was preparing to be ready.
“I understand business deals fall through sometimes, but going out publicly and saying things that aren’t true isn’t right. After everything I’ve given to the UFC, the years, the title defenses, the fights, hearing that I’m ‘done’ is disappointing. Especially when as recently as Friday UFC was calling me trying to get me on that White House card for a much lower number.”
Jones finished his statement by saying he “respectfully” asks to be released from his UFC contract.
Jon Jones enters the ring before facing Stipe Miocic in the UFC heavyweight championship fight during the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2024 in New York City, New York. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
“No more spins, no more games. Thank you to the real fans who know what’s up,” he wrote.
The UFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Fox News Digital.
Jones is considered one of the best UFC fighters of all time, owning a 28-1-1 record, which includes his last bout with Stipe Miocic, knocking him out to take the heavyweight title belt. He is also a two-time light heavyweight champion.
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