Brad Gaines, former DuPont High and Vanderbilt football star and father of former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, has filed to run for Congress as a Republican in Tennessee’s Sixth Congressional District.
The current congressman from the 6th district, Republican John Rose, is running for Governor of Tennessee which leaves an opening in 2026. Gaines joins two other notable Republican candidates in the heavily Republican district, State Representative Johnny Garrett and former Tennessee Congressman Van Hilleary (who served as congressman Rose’s chief of staff until he resigned to launch his congressional campaign).
A key moment from Gaines’ college football career at Vanderbilt occurred on October 28, 1989, during a game between Vanderbilt and Ole Miss.
In that game, Gaines was a receiver on a short pass route when he was tackled head-first by Ole Miss defensive back Chucky Mullins. The impact shattered four vertebrae in Mullins’ spine, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. Mullins died less than two years later at 21 years old, after suffering a pulmonary embolism. The tragic story was featured on ESPN years later in the documentary “It’s Time.” Network.
“’It’s Time’ is a film about two people whose lives change in one football play,” said Fritz Mitchell in his director statement. “Before Oct. 28, 1989, Brad Gaines and Chucky Mullins had never heard of each other. After that day, they would be bonded in friendship and they would never be the same again.”
Gaines shared his emotions and reflections on that day and the relationship that followed in an interview last June, on what would have been Mullins’ 55th birthday.
Gaines and his wife, Telisha, share four children, including Riley Gaines who has become an nationally known conservative activist promoting fairness in women’s sports – particularly in relation to transgender athletes competing against women. She gained visibility by speaking out after she was forced to compete against and share a locker room with biological male Lia Thomas from the University of Pennsylvania in the 200-yard freestyle at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming Championships. She is currently expecting her first child and has hosted a podcast on OutKick for the last several years.
Outkick was founded by Clay Travis, now the host of the nationally syndicated Clay and Buck radio Show while Travis also hosts OutKick The Show. Travis has been a longtime close friend of Rep. Johnny Garrett and has already endorsed him in the Sixth Congressional District Republican primary. The intertwined personal and professional relationships promise to make an intriguing political contest even more interesting.
The Gaines brothers grew up in the Nashville area and were all heavily recruited star athletes. Brad’s brother Greg “Bullethead” Gaines played linebacker for the University of Tennessee in the early 80s and spent eight years with the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. His younger brother Chris earned all American honors at Vanderbilt and played several years in the NFL and Canadian football league.
🚨New: Riley Gaines' father Brad Gaines has filed paperwork to run for Congress in Tennessee’s 6th congresswoman district in 2026 which is an open seat due to John Rose's campaign for Governor pic.twitter.com/OKGoFmPamQ
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) August 26, 2025
