(PatrioticPost.com)- A former player from the National Football League is hoping to find success in another arena as a Republican U.S. Senator from Arkansas.
Jake Bequette, who won a Super Bowl while playing for the New England Patriots, announced this week he would be challenging Arkansas’ incumbent, Senator John Boozman, in the Republican primary next spring.
Bequette is also a veteran of the U.S. Army. In making his announcement this week, he said in a video:
“What’s happening in Washington these days is a disgrace. Democrats have been taken over by radical socialists, and too many Republicans just go along to get along.
“I’m a God-fearing Christian conservative who is 100% pro-life and pro-police, and I will never apologize for being against illegal immigration.”
Bequette was once a star at the University of Arkansas. As a defensive lineman for the Razorbacks football team, he was once named to the all-SEC team.
With Bequette throwing his hat in the ring, there will now be at least three challengers to Boozman’s seat in the Republican primary.
Jan Morgan, who owns a gun range, is another one of the challengers. She ran against current Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson in the 2018 Republican primary but lost.
While Bequette may attract a lot of attention because of his notoriety as a professional football player who starred at the in-state university, he certainly has an uphill battle on his hands against Boozman.
Boozman already has a number of prominent endorsements to win re-election, including one from former President Donald Trump. He’s also been endorsed by Senator Tom Cotton and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served for a time as Trump’s White House press secretary and is also running for governor in 2022.
Boozman is also very well-funded. Back in April, his campaign touted that he had more than $1.1 million already built up to help support his bid for re-lection.
The last time he ran in 2016, he beat out Curtis Coleman, a businessman, by 53% in the GOP primary. Boozman was elected to Congress in 2000, winning his seat in the Senate for the first time 10 years later.
Bequette knows he’s got quite the battle in front of him, but he said he’s prepared for it. Of Boozman, Bequette said:
“He’s been in Washington for over 20 years. He’s going on his third decade in Washington, in the swamp. I just think it’s time for a change, it’s time for someone new.”
Bequette is 32 years old. In 2012, he was selected in the third round of the NFL Draft by the Patriots, and went on to play for two years for them, making his way onto the field for eight games.
He was released before the 2014 season, but was signed to the Patriots’ practice squad. That’s how he received a Super Bowl ring, after the Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.
After being released with an injury settlement before the 2015 season, Bequette volunteered to serve for the Army. He graduated from Ranger School and was eventually deployed to Iraq as part of the 101st Airborne Division.
