The Chiefs have found themselves in a pickle. Their longtime kicker, Harrison Butker, kind of sucks. He has missed five of his 16 field goal attempts so far this season, including two in Sunday's loss to the Seahawks. This scenario, in which a once-reliable kicker stops being useful, is one teams deal with all the time, and it comes with a relatively easy solution: You cut the guy and sign one of the many unemployed kickers floating around the league's margins. Butker isn't just any kicker, though. He's also a conservative freak and a misogynist, which means that the Chiefs could make themselves far less odious by cutting him. You can't just let someone that awful and despised walk out the door without replacing at least some of what he brings to the table, though. Which brings us to today's news: The Chiefs have signed Justin Tucker to the practice squad.

According to ESPN, Tucker has been signed to Kansas City's practice squad to "serve as insurance" to Butker. The message the Chiefs are sending to their struggling kicker is clear: You think we can't find a guy who is even more of an awful person than you are? Think again.

Tucker, who turns 37 next month, has been out of the NFL since 2025. The Ravens released him that spring after 16 massage therapists from eight different spas in the Baltimore area accused Tucker of sexual misconduct. The Baltimore Banner published multiple stories in which massage therapists who worked at these spas described Tucker exposing his erect penis, brushing his fingers against their thighs, and leaving ejaculate on the massage table. Tucker received a 10-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, which he served last season.

Sally Rooney, one of the most popular novelists alive, says she will no longer sell her books in the U.K. In 2025, the British government proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, and in August of that year, Rooney published an op-ed in The Irish Times titled, "I support Palestine Action. If this makes me a ‘supporter of terror’ under UK law, so be it." Now, because the laws have not changed, Rooney and her publisher Faber & Faber announced this week that they will no longer be publishing her work in the U.K.

Rooney's novels have sold more than 2 million copies in the U.K. alone, a monumental number for any modern novelist. Her books Normal People and Conversations with Friends have been adapted for television. In her op-ed last year, Rooney stated that she intended to give the royalties from her books sold in the U.K., as well as her residuals from the television adaptions of her novels, to Palestine Action, a direct action network known for disrupting weapon manufacturers that sell arms to Israel. Under U.K. anti-terrorism laws, Rooney's publisher can no longer give her the royalties for her novels, knowing that she will donate them to Palestine Action, without putting them both at risk.

Technically, Rooney's books could still be sold in the U.K., but she would not be paid for their sales. Her publisher did not want to withhold the earnings from her. "As such, and in full agreement with Sally, we have taken the decision that we can no longer supply her works in the UK in any format," Faber & Faber said in a statement.

Welcome back to Minor Dilemmas, where a member of Defector's Parents Council will answer your questions on surviving family life. Have a question? Email us at minordilemmas@defector.com.

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