OAN Staff Blake Wolf
4:00 PM – Wednesday April 23, 2025
Former NFL kicker Jay Feely has announced his candidacy for Congress, citing the recent assassination attempt on President Donald Trump as a major inspiration—particularly the president’s display of courage and resilience in the face of such a harrowing event.
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48-year-old Feely will be running as a Republican for a seat in Arizona’s 5th Congressional district in the 2026 midterm elections — replacing Representative Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who is running for governor in Arizona.
“The lawfare that Democrats did against President Trump and you watched him get shot. That was a big moment for me. I remember starting to really think about running for office the day that he got shot,” Feely stated.
“I think that I feel God’s calling pressing me into service, and that’s really what I believe it is, is the civil service. I don’t believe we have enough politicians that get into political office not for self-serving measures and that get into political office and don’t want it to be a career, and that’s what I believe,” he continued. “I believe it is very much a civil service.”
Feely said that his tenure on the executive committee of the NFL Players’ Association, where he honed leadership and negotiation skills, has equipped him with valuable experiences that he believes will translate effectively to a role in Congress.
“One of those times we had a lockout and the players were locked out by the owners. We had to negotiate,” he stated. “Those types of negotiations are similar to what goes on in the House and the Senate and goes on in Congress and, you know, you’re doing those types of negotiations all the time. And we saw it with the continued resolution just a month ago.”
Feely also emphasized that he views illegal immigration as one of the most pressing challenges facing Arizona, identifying it as the cornerstone issue of his congressional campaign.
“The Democrats told us that they needed a bill passed in Congress or they couldn’t fix the border. And President Biden sat by and let tens of millions of illegals come into our country and he could have taken the measures that President Trump did in three months,” Feely stated.
During his 14-year NFL career, Feely played for the Arizona Cardinals, the Atlanta Falcons, the New York Giants, the Miami Dolphins, the Kansas City Chiefs, the New York Jets, and the Chicago Bears.
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