KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Despite a season full of ups and downs, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is heading back to a familiar place, Glendale, Arizona.
It's not only the site of Super Bowl LVII but also where Butker slipped on the turf at State Farm Stadium and sprained his ankle in the team's season opener.
Butker battled through that injury, missing a month’s worth of games for the first time in his NFL career. As a result, he only made 18 kicks out of 24 attempts and missed three extra points.
Butker even had doubts that he would play again this season after his injury.
“The temptation for me was just to be upset, kind of quit the process, just throw my hands up like I can’t do anything,” Butker said.
Coming into this season, Butker imagined things going much differently.
“You have all these aspirations for the season,” Butker said. “I felt the best I had ever felt going into a season. I thought this was gonna be my best year.”
Butker thought he got his stride back after returning from injury and hitting a franchise-record 62-yard field goal against the Buffalo Bills.
But Butker would miss a 51-yard attempt early in the third quarter of that game, starting a streak of four straight games with either a missed field goal or an extra point.
So instead he “kept the faith” and was rewarded with a 45-yard game-winning field goal against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game.
Most players and fans were looking at the jumbotron in GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium as the kick went into the frigid night air. Butker wasn’t one of them.
“I’m like, man we gotta make sure this ball goes over the crossbar,” Butker said.
After that game-winner, Butker believes he’s finally back to his pre-injury self when he was making field goals at an above 90% clip.
“I had to make some adjustments technique-wise because you’re not gonna feel the same,” Butker said. “It’s gonna take some time to get the mobility again, to get the strength again, so I’ve made some small changes and I feel like I’ve really ironed those out.”
One of those adjustments is on kickoffs, kicking from five yards away from the ball instead of 11 yards.
“It’s much more controlled and I feel like doing that approach, I can handle a slippery surface,” Butker said. “I feel better doing this five-yard approach. It’s a lot safer.”
With those new adjustments, Butker is now focused on the biggest game of the season, Super Bowl LVII.
“My head’s down, I’m grinding every day now to get to the Super Bowl,” Butker said.
He expects the field at State Farm Stadium to be “great” and feels “locked in” heading into his third Super Bowl appearance in four years.
Butker didn’t forget to stop and reflect on his journey up to this point, though.
“It’s pretty amazing now to look back and think about how missed up my ankle was and what that injury was to think that now I’m kicking again, so it’s a blessing to be able to do what I’m doing,” Butker said.
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