Trump-Backed Former NFL Kicker Jay Feely Will Face Former New York Jets Doctor in Arizona Primary

Former journeyman NFL kicker and broadcaster Jay Feely secured the Republican nomination for an Arizona congressional seat this week, thanks in part to President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

His opponent on the Democratic side will be former state Rep. Amish Shah, a physician who worked for the New York Jets when Feely played for the team in the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

“I’m asking you to go out and vote for Jay Feely, a friend of mine and a great athlete to represent Arizona’s first congressional district,” Trump said in an endorsement video, filmed at the White House, earlier this month. “Jay is a true American First conservative and a natural-born leader.”

“He was elected team captain on three different NFL teams — that’s pretty good,” Trump, 80, added.

After playing football for the University of Michigan in the late 1990s, Feely was a placekicker in professional football from 1999 to 2015, playing for six NFL teams — the New York Jets and Giants, the Atlanta Falcons, the Miami Dolphins, the Arizona Cardinals and the Chicago Bears.

He spent the ensuing decade as an NFL broadcaster for CBS.

Feely — who occasionally golfs with Trump, according to Politico — is running to succeed Arizona Rep. David Schweikert, who mounted an unsuccessful campaign for governor in the GOP primary.

The 1st District, covering Phoenix’s northern suburbs, is one of Democrats’ top targets to flip as they seek to retake the House from Speaker Mike Johnson in November.

Trump won the district by just over four percentage points in 2024, and Schweikert beat Shah by under three percentage points the same year.

“I also have to thank President Trump. He and I have been friends for two decades,” Feely, 50, said at his victory party on Tuesday. “We know how important it is to stand up for him and the policies that he’s trying to impact our country with.”