A Growing NFL Congressional Caucus
Two former NFL players are hoping to get one step closer to the U.S. Senate tonight, though their careers have diverged significantly, and they face wildly different odds in their respective races.
In Arkansas, former Arkansas Razorbacks defensive end Jake Bequette is trying to force incumbent Republican Sen. John Boozman into a primary runoff. Bequette was a productive player at Arkansas but was a little-used reserve in the pros, bouncing between the Patriots’ active roster and their practice squad for three years and playing in just eight regular-season games. While he was on the practice squad, the Patriots won a Super Bowl — but whether Bequette can say he won a Super Bowl has become a point of contention in the race. GOP mega-donor Dick Uihlein is funding a big outside push for Bequette, but Boozman will be hard to beat.
It’s a very different story in Georgia, where University of Georgia legend Herschel Walker is bulldozing the competition in the GOP Senate primary. Unlike Bequette, Walker played over a decade in the NFL, including three-plus standout seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, although he never quite reached the level of greatness he occupied in college.
The 1982 Heisman Trophy winner was coaxed into the race by Trump last year, and his status as a state hero helped him clear the field of any formidable challengers, despite a long and growing list of personal issues, including several harrowing accusations of domestic violence and questionable business practices. Once Walker wins his primary, he’ll face a highly competitive race against incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.
If either Bequette or Walker make it to Congress, they’ll join at least two former NFL players, one from each party. Utah’s 4th District Rep. Burgess Owens, a Republican, was a safety for the Jets and Raiders, winning a Super Bowl in 1981, and Texas’s 32nd Rep. Colin Allred, a Democrat, was a linebacker for the Tennessee Titans. A third NFLer, Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, was a tight end for the Indianapolis Colts but is retiring at the end of this term. And while Ohio’s 13th District GOP nominee Madison Gesiotto Gilbert never played in the NFL, if she wins, Capitol Hill may see a bit of her husband, former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert.
That said, no former NFL player has ever served in the Senate so either Bequette or Walker becoming a senator would be historic. The last two senators who played in any of the “Big Three” major leagues were Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Bunning, a Republican from Kentucky, and Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Bradley, a Democrat from New Jersey.