Most of the time we all hate it when politics insert themselves into sports; sports are usually our safe space away from the bickering and fights of politics. Talking crap about Dodgers fans or Seahawks fans is much more satisfying than fighting with someone from the other political party for most people. But every once in a while sports intersects with politics and…it’s not that bad.
Enter Jay Feely. Cardinals fans will almost certainly remember him as the former placekicker for the Cardinals. He had a 14 year career but spent 2010-2013 with the Bird Gang and was a fairly good kicker…not particularly memorably great but certainly a reasonably good starter. But soon he may be known for something very different.
Congressman Andy Biggs represents Congressional District 5 in the East Valley, covering much of Gilbert and Mesa as well as elsewhere, but he will be vacating that role for a shot at Arizona Governor (read our coverage here), and Jay Feely is widely expected to take a shot at filling his seat as a fellow Republican.
This isn’t coming as a surprise to insiders, as Feely has been making the rounds in conservative circles and even went to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Donald Trump at one point, and is said to be an occasional golf partner with him as well. Nor is the idea of a former professional athlete running for office a new one. Politically astute observers will no doubt remember Herschel Walker’s ill-fated run for the US Senate recently. History is riddled with former professional athletes who ran for office, and as the chart below shows, they’ve traditionally had an extremely good success rate for most seats.
Will Feely follow that trend? He clearly seems to be on the right path, as being embraced by the political establishment is certain to open considerable fundraising doors, push out potential new entrants, and generally provides a sense of legitimacy. He would come in immediately as a strong competitor and maybe even the purported front-runner, with a significant amount of name ID already baked into the campaign, thus overcoming one of the critical difficulties of being a first-time candidate.
One thing is for certain, however: Congressional District 5 is an extremely safe Republican seat, so anyone who wins that seat is likely to have that seat for as long as they want it, barring bad unforced errors on their part. There is certain to be some strong competition on the GOP side, so the road will not be cleared for Feely if he does run. He’s going to learn immediately how tough politics can sometimes be.