Jay Feely

Jay Feely is a former NFL placekicker (2001-2014) and CBS football analyst, and the Republican nominee for Arizona's 1st Congressional District, an open seat. He played college football at the University of Michigan and began his congressional campaign in 2025, first in the 5th District and later in the 1st. As of July 1, 2026, he had raised $2.53 million to Amish Shah's $1.83 million.[1][2][4]

Feely was born on May 23, 1976, and attended Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida.[5] Feely, whose full name is Thomas "Jay" Feely IV, earned a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Michigan in 1998 and, according to FOX 10 Phoenix, was a member of Michigan's 1997 national championship team.[1][2] He was a four-year letterman as a kicker at Michigan.[5] He worked as a financial advisor before his football career.[1][2] He began his professional career with the Florida Bobcats (1999) and Tampa Bay Storm (2000) of the Arena Football League.[5] He then played as a kicker for six NFL teams from 2001 to 2014, including the Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals (2010-2013) and Chicago Bears, and he served on the NFLPA Executive Committee for over a decade.[1][2][5] He was named to the Pro Football Weekly All-Rookie team in 2001.[5]

After football, Feely joined CBS in 2015 as a college football analyst for CBS Sports Network and later worked as an NFL analyst and color commentator; FOX 10 Phoenix says he spent a decade with the network and won an Emmy Award.[2][3][5] He served on the Gilbert Christian High School board from 2016 to 2020.[1][2][3] He also serves on corporate boards, works as an angel investor, and runs the Feely Family Foundation with his wife, Rebecca.[2] Feely announced a run for Congress in April 2025 in the 5th District. After President Donald Trump endorsed Mark Lamb in that race, Feely announced on December 19, 2025 that he would run in the 1st District instead.[4][5] He won the July 21, 2026 Republican primary with 49.8% of the vote over Joseph Chaplik (35.7%) and John Trobough (14.5%) with Trump's endorsement; FOX 10 Phoenix reports he has faced criticism for living outside the district.[1][3] Feely lives in Gilbert, Arizona, with his wife, Rebecca; the couple have four children, according to Wikipedia.[5]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.