Former NFL kicker Jay Feely announces he will run for Congress in Arizona: ‘Excited about this next chapter’

Former NFL kicker Jay Feely announced he will be running for Congress in Arizona in 2026.

Feely, 48, will be running for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in Arizona’s 5th Congressional district in the 2026 midterm elections. The former New York Giants kicker will be looking to replace Rep. Andy Biggs, who is looking to run for governor in Arizona.

Biggs, a Republican congressman, won Arizona’s 5th Congressional district with 60.4% of the vote in 2024.

According to ESPN, Feely submitted a formal statement of interest with Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes on Tuesday, which is a requirement candidates must fulfill before they can be placed on the ballot.

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

Feely reportedly said President Donald Trump and Rep. Jim Jordan petitioned him to run for Congress in 2022, but he declined because he still had children in high school.

Feely played for seven different teams during his 14-year NFL career, including four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He also played for the Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets and Chicago Bears.

During that time, Feely connected on 82.6% of his field goal attempts with his longest make coming from 61 yards. He retired from the sport following the 2014 season and served as an analyst for CBS for 10 years.