Former NFL kicker Jay Feely issued an apology on Sunday for a photo posted on his Twitter account the previous day, showing him standing in between his daughter and her prom date with a gun in his hand.
The #BadBoys hashtag used by Feely in the above tweet is in reference to the scene in Bad Boys 2 where Detective Marcus Burnett, played by Martin Lawrence, and Detective Mike Lowrey, played by Will Smith, work together to scare the guy picking up Burnett's daughter for a date.
Feely’s poor attempt at a joke comes at a time when gun control has resurfaced as a hot button issue in this country following the tragic event at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida where 17 students and teachers were killed by lone gunman Nikolas Cruz. “The prom picture I posted was obviously intended to be a joke,” Feely wrote. “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.”
While Feely claims that both his daughter and her prom date were aware that he was joking, an overprotective father loves to do this thing where you are on the brink of being terrified for your life before breaking out the never reassuring “you know I’m only joking” phrase. For all we know, this guy was probably still under the impression that Feely was dead set on using his gun if he “tried any funny business” at the time when this picture was taken. This kid's forced smile says it all.
