ESPN analyst Craig James has come under fire from many angles in the last year, and not just for his capabilities as an analyst. James sparked controversy in 2009 with his involvement in allegations of misconduct by then Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach related to James’ son Adam, a wide receiver at Tech. Earlier this year in Leach’s book, Swing Your Sword, details of James’ alleged involvement in a smear campaign against Leach surfaced. The publishing of Leach’s book and the allegations against James eventually led longtime ESPN.com college football writer Bruce Feldman, who co-authored Leach’s book, to leave the media company for competitor CBSSports.com.
When Bruce Feldman was suspended by ESPN for working with Leach and the network seemingly protected Craig James, an avalanche of public sentiment turned against the former SMU running back. But now, the days of the #FireCraigJames hashtag may be numbered due to the political ambitions of the Texan. A source at ESPN tells Crystal Ball Run’s Regie Eller that Craig James informed ESPN he was leaving the network after the 2011 college football season to run for public office in Texas. If you want to bet on James finally leaving ESPN, you can do that and much, much more at BetNow.eu. Here’s what we were told by the ESPN source:
“you didn’t hear it from me – but Craig James notified ESPN last week he’s not coming back next season. I guess he’s running for office in Texas, he’ll be announcing in the next couple weeks. He’ll work 2 bowl games then be done.”
When asked further about this report. The ESPN source told CBR:
“He’s discussing it openly with a crew of 30 or so people, so it can’t be that well kept of a secret”
Reports have been spreading for some time regarding James’ desire to run for public office. His organization “Texans For A Better America” was seen by many as a prelude to Craig James running for office and this video reeks of a cheesy political campaign ad. In fact, James said this regarding a possible future political candidacy in early August according to The Hill:
“It’s been on my radar for two years. And I’ve gone around the state and I’ve listened to people,” James said on the “Coffee and Markets” podcast published on the conservative blog RedState. “I do believe right now it’s too early to make that decision. In the state of Texas, no one’s paying attention to the U.S. Senate race right now other than the hardcores. And I believe that somewhere late in the fall, it will become important and people will start paying attention.”
There’s no word at this time as to what office Craig James may be running for, but his name has been associated in the past with the US Senate seat held by Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is not running for re-election. We’ll keep you posted as more details become available.
