Ex-Falcons, Cardinals kicker makes stunning political move

“I’m excited to announce my candidacy for U.S. Congress in Arizona’s 5th Congressional District,” Feely’s post read. “I look forward to earning your vote.”

The move comes after the former Falcons kicker spent a decade in the broadcast booth. He also spoke to ESPN about the decision, further explaining his reasoning for the decision.

“I’m excited about this next chapter of my life,” Feely said. “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.

“I believe it is very much a civil service,” he continued.

Feely and his wife, Rebecca, met with congressional Republicans in Washington, D.C., a month or so ago to get an idea of what his life would look like in politics. Once his wife was on board, he moved forward.

He is vying for a seat that was vacated by Representative Andy Biggs. Biggs is now aiming to become Arizona governor in 2026. According to ESPN’s report, Feely’s platform “will be centered around securing the southern border and the economy.”

Before announcing his campaign, Feely thanked CBS for giving him an opportunity as a broadcaster.  “I’m so grateful for my 10 years at [CBS Sports],” Feely said in a post on X. “They took a chance on a kicker and allowed me to be in the booth calling NFL games (Only the 2nd K ever to do that after the legendary Pat Summerall) I enjoyed every minute and I will miss the people I worked with the most.”

Despite enjoying his broadcasting career, Feely wanted more. He described his yearning for a “greater” purpose during the last season to ESPN.

“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.

He also claims to have been interested in politics for a while. The former Falcons and Cardinals kicker Jay Feely is following his new calling in politics.

“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 explained.