Ex-NFL Player Jay Feely posted a controversial photo on Twitter in which he posed with his daughter, her prom date, and a handgun.

Many people on Twitter felt that Feely was being insensitive about gun violence by posting the photo.

Feely attempted to clarify the meaning behind the photo, saying that his tweet was "obviously intended to be a joke," the gun was not loaded, and he did not mean to be insensitive.



Now that prom season is officially underway, anyone who spends any time on the internet has been treated to their fair share of prom-related content. There are the heartwarming stories of teens bringing relatives who never got to go to prom as their dates, and adorable tales of teens asking celebrities to prom, as well as slightly less heartwarming posts about girls being slut-shamed by their prom dates based on their dress selection.

Now, Jay Feely, an ex-NFL kicker, is coming under fire for posting a photo to Twitter in which he posed with his daughter, her prom date, and a handgun, with the caption, "Wishing my beautiful daughter and her date a great time at prom."

The tweet immediately sparked controversy and racked up over 12,000 replies in less than 48 hours.

Some people pointed to the fact that, since gun violence is a daily occurrence in the United States (according to Everytown Research, an average of 96 Americans are killed every day with guns), posing with a gun next to a high school student was in poor taste.

Others felt that Feely's reliance on the trope of a father brandishing a gun to protect his daughter's virtue — whether meant as a joke or not — made it seem as though Feely considered his daughter nothing more than property to be protected. Women, for what it's worth, bear the brunt of the gun violence burden, with 50 women shot to death every month in the United States by their intimate partners, according to Everytown Research.

Feely has since said that his tweet was "obviously intended to be a joke," insisting the gun was not loaded, and he did not mean to be insensitive to that "important issue."

INSIDER contacted Feely for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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