Former NFL kicker Jay Feely is now running for Congress in Arizona's Fifth Congressional District. He said Friday that, while he is concerned for the country's future, the attempted assassination of President Trump made his decision official.
Feely, now an Emmy Award-winning NFL analyst for CBS Sports, told Newsmax that “I remember exactly where I was that day. That day stood out to me dramatically. I started to ask myself, What am I willing to sacrifice for my country? Because I love my job. I love broadcasting, doing games. It was fun. I only had to work five months of the year, and then we got seven months off.”
However, now, there is a “bigger picture and I really felt that pressing from God,” Feely said.
Arizona’s Fifth District is represented by Rep. Andy Biggs (R), who is now running for governor.
“When Andy Biggs decided in January he was going to run for governor, the seat where we have lived for the last 15 years here in Arizona would become open, and that's when I decided, you know what? I want to serve my country. That's how I view politics. It's really about civil service,” Feely explained.
Feely added that he had been concerned for a while about the direction of the country, considering "what happened with COVID and all the liberties we lost, and then the BLM riots and the hypocrisy that existed, watching our cities burn and people get murdered, businesses be destroyed.”
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Feely noted as well that another motivation was “the transgender stuff that was going on with our children,” as well as the situation with the southern border, saying that “for four years, the Biden administration lied to the American people, and they said they needed a bill passed to do anything at the border. They put politics in front of the protection of the American people. They did it willingly, you know, and those families that were impacted by illegals, whether it was murders or rapes or fentanyl overdoses, the Democrats should stand up and apologize every single interview they do. They should say to the American people. We were wrong. We lied to you, and we apologize.”
Feely added that he has been “very blessed to be around President Trump a number of times.”
“We played golf together a few times, and you saw it there. He's got a great sense of humor. He's incredibly smart. You know, you were talking about Biden's decline and how the media hit it. And I think that was evident to the American people,” Feely said.
Feely noted that voters “saw another side in President Trump who understands the issues.”
“He's got such a vast knowledge base and he knows exactly what's going on, not only in politics, but in sports and around the world. And every time I've spent time with him, it's been a blessing, and I've enjoyed it tremendously. It's why I've been such a supporter all the way back to 2016,” Feely said.
The first person Feely spoke to about a potential run was Biggs, to make sure he was “all in” on running for governor.
“Andy’s been a great servant to our state here. My wife was able to sit down with his wife and just kind of pick their brains. Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer have been excellent for me, a resource where I could talk to them, ask them about it. We went up to D.C. about a month ago and just kind of sat down with everybody and really walked through what it was like to be a congressman and what that would entail. And that's when my wife and I both decided, yeah, we're all in. We understand what it's going to ask,” Feely said.
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