Jay Feely apologizes for posing with gun in daughter’s prom photo

Former NFL kicker Jay Feely made a joke over the weekend about his daughter going to the prom, and he was forced to apologize on Sunday after it did not go over well with many people.

The photo featured Feely posing with his daughter and her prom date. The caption seemed innocent enough, but Feely was proudly displaying a handgun in his right hand.

Wishing my beautiful daughter and her date a great time at prom #BadBoys pic.twitter.com/T5JRZQYq9e

— Jay Feely (@jayfeely) April 22, 2018

While Feely was obviously trying to make a clever dad joke, many felt the photo was inappropriate and promoted gun violence. On Sunday, he issued an apology and said both his daughter and her longtime boyfriend knew he was joking. Feely also said he takes gun safety seriously.

The prom picture I posted was obviously intended to be a joke. My Daughter has dated her boyfriend for over a year and they knew I was joking.
I take gun safety seriously (the gun was not loaded and had no clip in) and I did not intend to be insensitive to that important issue

— Jay Feely (@jayfeely) April 22, 2018

Feely, who has made headlines in the past for his outspoken personality, probably didn’t expect the reaction he got. And in fairness, there were plenty of people who found the joke hilarious. Still, you can understand why it stirred up some negative emotions.