Jay Feely spent more than a decade kicking in the NFL.
But he had a different kind of pressure-packed night on Tuesday. It was Election Night, and the former placekicker was running for a seat in Congress in the state of Arizona.
Feely was a 14-year NFL kicker who began his career with the Atlanta Falcons. He then kicked for the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears.
Feely made 82% of his kicks in the NFL. On Tuesday night, he didn’t need to finish with that high a percentage to have a chance.
The results are in. Here’s what happened.
Did Jay Feely Make Congress?
Jay Feely does not appear to have won a seat in Congress.
He was running in Arizona’s first congressional district.
Feely was running as a Republican against Democrat Amish Shah — who remarkably was once the medical trainer for the Jets when Feely played there.
The New York Times was reporting as of Wednesday morning that with 90% of the votes in from the district, Shah had claimed 163,584 compared to Feely’s 141,196.
That works out to 52.6% of the vote for Shah compared to 45.4% of the vote for Feely.
The Libertarian candidate in that district, Monica Alponte, had also received 2.0% of the vote with 6,360 votes counted for her.
The Athletic wrote this blurb about Feely before the votes were in:
Feely, a Republican and a former NFL kicker, is running for U.S. Congress in Arizona against Dr. Amish Shah, a Democrat who also has a sports background as a former team physician for the New York Jets.
Feely spent 14 years in the NFL, playing for the Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Miami Dolphins, Jets, Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears. He made five playoff appearances and worked as an analyst and reporter for CBS after retirement until 2025, when he left to run for office. Feely received Trump’s endorsement in a competitive district.
Jay Feely With Falcons
Feely began his NFL career with the Falcons after going undrafted out of the University of Michigan.
He kicked in all 64 games possible over his first four years in the NFL while playing in Atlanta.
He led the NFL with 32 field goals made in 2002. Feely also made the NFL’s longest field goal in 2001 when he hit from 55 yards.
Overall, Feely made 98-of-127 field goals for Atlanta, a 77.2% rate. He was also 142-for-144 on extra points for the Falcons, which is 98.6%.
Ex-Falcons Kicker Jay Feely Learns Congress Voting Results