Former NFL kicker Jay Feely is running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona’s fifth congressional district in the 2026 midterm election.
Feely, 48, who has been a broadcaster for the past 10 years, told ESPN of his plan ahead of a scheduled public announcement on Tuesday in Gilbert, Ariz.
“I’m excited about this next chapter of my life,” Feely told ESPN. “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.”
The seat is held by Rep. Andy Biggs, a fifth-term congressman who in January announced he is a candidate for governor of Arizona. Feely said his platform will focus on the economy and securing the southern border.
Feely formally submitted a statement of interest to the Arizona secretary of state on Tuesday, declaring his interest in the seat. He can now collect signatures to be on the ballot.
He played 14 years in the NFL and made 332 of 402 field-goal attempts (82.6 percent) with a long of 61, and 449 of 452 extra-point attempts (99.3 percent). He played for the Atlanta Falcons (2001-04), New York Giants (2005-06), Miami Dolphins (2007), New York Jets (2008-09), Arizona Cardinals (2010-13) and Chicago Bears (2014).
Feely joined CBS Sports Network as a color analyst in 2015 for college football games and, beginning in 2017, with CBS’ NFL coverage. He told ESPN that last football season, he didn’t feel the same challenge and purpose to his occupation as earlier in his broadcasting career.
“I felt that there was a calling to something greater and that there was a different platform that I wanted to try to utilize to have a positive impact on people,” Feely said.
“I’ve always been involved in politics and done a lot of different events for different politicians, local and national, and I’ve always liked thinking about political issues and talking about political issues, so, that’s not new, but leaving broadcasting after I’d worked so hard to get where I was and to step aside, and to say I think there’s a greater calling, yeah, that was different for me.”
He said that the July assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania motivated him to run for public office. Feely noted that Trump and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio had asked him to run for Congress in 2022, but he and his wife had children in high school and declined. Their children will be out of high school by 2026.
A native of Odessa, Fla., Feely kicked at Michigan and played during the 1995, 1997 and 1998 seasons, including a national championship in 1997 when he made three field goals and two extra points.
He played in the Arena Football League in 1999 and 2000 before getting his opportunity with the Falcons in 2001.
–Field Level Media
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