Arizona’s race for the 1st Congressional District has produced an unusual matchup with a New York Jets tie at its center.
Former Jets kicker Jay Feely, now 50, won the Republican primary and will move on to the general election in November. On the other side is Democrat Amish Shah, who served as the Jets’ team doctor during Feely’s two seasons in New York from 2008-09.
Feely’s time with the Jets included the 2009 season that ended in the AFC championship game. Over 31 games with the team, he made 54 of 64 field goal attempts, good for 84.4%, with a long of 55 yards. He also converted all 71 of his extra-point tries.
His NFL career stretched 14 years before he retired after the 2014 season, when he played his lone year with the Chicago Bears.
After football, Feely moved into broadcasting. He joined CBS Sports Network as a color analyst for college football in 2015 and later added NFL work to his responsibilities in 2017. Following the 2023 season, he left CBS to launch his congressional campaign.
Shah, 49, brings a different kind of resume to the race. He has run for Congress on multiple occasions and has several years of political experience in government. He served in the Arizona House of Representatives for District 5 from 2023 to 2024 and previously represented District 24 from 2019 to 2023.
It’s not every day that two former members of the same NFL organization end up facing off against each other in the political sphere.
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