Jay Feely, a former kicker for the Chicago Bears and an NFL/college football analyst for CBS Sports, tweeted out a picture of his daughter and her prom date on Saturday.
Wishing my beautiful daughter and her date a great time at prom #BadBoys pic.twitter.com/T5JRZQYq9e
— Jay Feely (@jayfeely) April 22, 2018
The picture showed Feely standing in between his daughter and her date holding a handgun (can’t make out what model). He said, “Wishing my beautiful daughter and her date a great time at prom.” He used the hashtag “#BadBoys” about a scene in Bad Boys II where a boy picks up Martin Lawrence’s character’s daughter for a first date. I’d embed the video, but it’s not family-friendly (an understatement).
Since his tweet involves a handgun, stupidity ensued.
https://twitter.com/smsauceda/status/987905604495859713
https://twitter.com/SipsOfCyanide/status/987946445813702656
https://twitter.com/ourdailyquest/status/987895488241422336
Let's see…Daddy poses for a photo by standing between daughter and her date, while holding a hand gun!? The clear message is what? That you own a gun? You make a strong case that MANY GUN OWNERS SHOULD NOT OWN A GUN!! Totally irresponsible.
— Wayenin (@WeCU12) April 22, 2018
And then Lauren Duca had to take stupid to a whole new level.
Wishing my beautiful daughter and her date *a violent reminder that I consider her my property pic.twitter.com/RDM7SpXBAE
— Lauren Duca (@laurenduca) April 22, 2018
Feely sadly felt the need to let everyone know that this picture was a joke (which should be obvious).
“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,” he tweeted.
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
Being a dad of two daughters, I understand the sentiment Feely was trying to convey jokingly. Our daughters aren’t property (as Laura Duca tweeted), but we are protective. It is instinctive, and many dads have traditionally joked around with their daughter’s dates in a similar way. I thought the picture was funny, and the fact Feely felt like he needed to explain himself is sad.
The gun was not loaded, his finger was not on the trigger, I assume the safety was on, and he had the gun pointed down not at the boyfriend.
There will always be people who take offense at such things. So if you’re offended, be offended. It’ll be ok. I’ll continue to think this was a funny prom picture.
