Charles Barkley, Other Sports Celebrities Donated To Ex-NFL Player Who Won GOP Nomination

Trump-backed Jay Feely, a 14-year NFL veteran, won the Republican nomination in Arizona’s hotly contested 1st District on Tuesday, defeating former state Rep. Joseph Chaplik and businessman John Trobough.

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Feely’s background in sports was a major asset to his campaign, generating substantial amounts of money from former colleagues.

Feely received the maximum individual donation of $7,000 from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and Denver Broncos owner Rob Walton, OutKick reported. He also received smaller donations from Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. The Bidwill family, owners of the Cardinals, collectively donated $17,000, while the Haslam family, owners of the Browns, topped the list by donating $20,000.

It wasn’t just owners contributing to Feely’s congressional bid. Sports commentator and NBA hall-of-famer Charles Barkley donated, as did a slew of former NFL players, including John Elway, Rich Gannon, Trent Green, Jeff Saturday, Todd Heap, Richie Incognito, and Brian Urlacher, according to Central Oregon Daily.

Many of theses sports luminaries are traditionally aligned with Democrats, most notably Blank, who has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the party’s candidates.

Arizona’s 1st District has been purple since 2009, flipping back and forth between red and blue. It’s a district where Democrats have poured roughly $7 million into their primary.

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The Democratic primary for the district still hasn’t been called between former state Rep. Amish Shah and former broadcast journalist Marlene Galán-Woods. (RELATED: American Athlete Allegedly Tried To Get Trump To Overturn Penalty In International Tournament)

The district’s current representative, David Schweikert, who has held the seat since the 2023 redistricting gave it its current shape, chose to run for governor rather than for reelection but lost his primary to Rep. Andy Biggs by nearly 60 points.

Freely played 14 seasons as an NFL kicker for six teams, including the Falcons. Following his retirement, he spent 10 years as an NFL and college broadcaster for CBS.

He cited wanting to make life better for his children as his reason to for running.

“It is a desire to leave this country better for our children and our grandchildren,” Feely said at his victory celebration. “That’s it at its core.”

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