Inside Harrison Butker's relationship with childhood sweetheart Isabelle Tehrani: How Chiefs' star met wife of six years when they were both High School freshmen as he kicks up storm calling for women to embrace the 'homemaker' role
- The couple met as freshmen at Westminster High School in Atlanta, Georgia
After Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker went viral for claiming women should be embracing the 'homemaker' role, MailOnline reveals everything we know about the football star's relationship with his childhood sweetheart Isabelle Tehrani.
Butker, 28, and Tehrani, 29, met while attending Westminster High School in Atlanta, Georgia, and started dating as freshmen.
They continued their relationship after graduating as Butker headed to Georgia Tech to play football and Tehrani to Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, to play basketball.
Tehrani graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science and Spanish in 2016, a year before her then-boyfriend - who graduated with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering - was drafted into the NFL in 2017.
After being drafted, Butker proposed to his high school sweetheart and said in interviews that she made him a 'better man' and has been by his side 'through everything'.
Butker headed to Georgia Tech to play football and Tehrani (pictured in her basketball uniform) to Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, to play basketball
Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates on the field with his wife Isabelle Tehrani and his son after defeating the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium on January 19, 2020 in Kansas City, Missouri
Butker, 28, and Tehrani, 29, met while attending Westminster High School in Atlanta, Georgia and started dating as freshmen (pictured at their prom in 2013)
After being drafted, Butker proposed to his high school sweetheart and said in interviews that she made him a 'better man' and has been by his side 'through everything' (couple pictured circa when they were in college)
They tied the knot in 2018 and the couple went on to have their son, James Augustine Butker, in 2019 and sometime later their daughter, whose name they have not made public
'After almost seven years of being best friends with this girl, I finally popped the question,' he wrote as he shared the news of their engagement on social media, adding that he had 'always envisioned marrying [Tehrani] and raising a family together'.
They tied the knot in 2018 and the couple went on to have their son, James Augustine Butker, in 2019 and sometime later their daughter, whose name they have not made public.
While Butker's children were photographed with their father at the Super Bowl LVII in February 2023, they are rarely seen in public.
All pictures featuring his wife that Butker had posted on Instagram and X have also been deleted, as it has been reported that Tehrani prefers to stay out of the limelight that comes with her husband being an NFL star.
When Tehrani appeared on The Unraveled Podcast in 2022, she said she was an 'independent' person in college, according to outlet Heavy.
In her husband's recent comments, which were slammed as 'bigoted' and 'misogynistic', Butker said his wife's life only 'truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother' after she converted to his Catholic faith
Butker delivered a 20-minute speech on Saturday at the Catholic private liberal arts college in Kansas, where he said men should 'fight against the cultural emasculation' and that women should be 'homemakers' instead of working.
He touched on his beliefs about women's role in society and told the women in the audience: 'I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you.
'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.'
He added about his high school sweetheart: 'I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.
Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs celebrates with his children after kicking the go ahead field goal to beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona
'I'm on this stage today, able to be the man that I am, because I have a wife who leans into her vocation.
'I'm beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all, homemaker.'
In an earlier appearance on The Unraveled Podcast, Tehrani revealed that she is a stay-at-home mother and that she converted to Catholicism for her husband after being uncertain about her faith for years, the US Sun reports.
In 2020, the couple founded the Butker Family Foundation, which works on causes like pro-life advocacy and support, according to the Chiefs website.
Butker has previously shared his conservative values and reiterated them in his address to the college graduates on the weekend, which he started by attacking what he called 'dangerous gender ideologies' in an apparent reference to Pride month, which has been celebrated in June since the Stonewall riots in 1969.
He also addressed the men at the event by saying: 'To the gentlemen here today, part of what plagues society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities.
'As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction and chaos set in,' Butker continued. 'This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation.
'... Be unapologetic in your masculinity. Fight against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy.'
Butker's speech to the graduates went viral and was met with criticism online, as many branded it 'bigoted' and 'misogynistic'.
'I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,' Butker said (pictured above with Isabelle and their son in 2020)
Butker, who previously voiced his conservative views, addressed not only on gender roles in his speech, but on Pride month, abortion and President Biden's leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic as well
'Harrison Butker, a dude I had never heard of until today, did a bang-up job of becoming one of the most hated men in North America in the space of one 20-minute speech full of bigotry and misogyny,' one X user wrote.
Another added: 'Harrison Butker is a sexist, homophobic loser. Hope he misses every field goal this year.'
Butker, who previously voiced his conservative views, addressed not only on gender roles in his speech, but on Pride month, abortion and President Biden's leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic as well.
Butker plays football on the same team as Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift's boyfriend, and even quoted the singer in his speech, although he only referred to the hugely successful megastar as his 'teammate's girlfriend'.
'As my teammate's girlfriend says, 'familiarity breeds contempt',' he told the audience, referring to Swift's song Bejeweled from her 2022 album Midnights.
'I'll let the Swifties handle Harrison Butker,' one user wrote as the singer's fans flooded social media with memes making fun of Butker's points.
More criticism of Butker's speech includes one user writing: 'Sounds to me like Harrison Butker is insecure in his own masculinity.'
'I hope that Harrison Butker tries to tell Travis that Taylor emasculates him cause she works and isn't at home cooking and taking care of babies. And I hope Travis beats the s*** out of him,' one Swiftie said.
Butker has become more vocal in recent years with his personal beliefs, which saw him wearing a tie to the Chiefs' Super Bowl celebration at the White House last year with a pro-life Latin phrase on it - knowing President Biden is pro-choice.
