James, 49, an analyst on Thursday night and Saturday afternoon telecasts on ESPN/ABC, is in his second tour of duty with the network. He was a studio analyst in the early 1990s before leaving in 1996 for an expanded role with CBS.
He returned in 2004 and although his work is generally praised, James' reputation — along with that of the network — was tarnished when he became involved in a controversy involving his son, Adam, and Texas Tech coach Mike Leach.
Adam, a receiver on the Red Raider team, was recovering from a concussion last season when Leach reportedly confined him in a shed for two hours during practice after suspecting the player was exaggerating his injury.
James complained to Texas Tech officials and reportedly threatened to sue the university. Leach, who called James "a Little League dad," was eventually suspended and then fired before the team played in the Alamo Bowl.
James Cutbirth, an assistant professor of journalism at the University of British Columbia, wrote a piece for Huffington Post that was critical of the analyst and ESPN:
"Craig James has every right to be a pestering football dad, as obnoxious as that may be. However, if he wants to exercise that right, he owes it to his network and the reputations of other reporters who work there to move into a job that doesn't have these ethical temptations or create the appearance of impropriety."
ESPN ombudsman Don Ohlmeyer wrote a lengthy piece about James and the network that the analyst dragged into the fray. He ended it with this: "As ESPN grows, so will the conflicts. All the policies in the world won't cover the potential scenarios. The company needs to develop a hypersensitivity to such developments. News decisions in these cases must not be resolved by asking 'What's permissible for the employee?' but rather 'What's fair to the audience?' "
James also has an interest in politics. A native Texan, he considered running as a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate and is a board member of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank.
So there you have it. Do you like Craig James? Do you not like Craig James. Fire away!
It is the utmost in lost integrity that one half of the Pony Express/Paid to play backfield of SMU can talk about college athletics and deny that he received or even was aware of the cash paid to Eric Dickerson and several other teammates at SMU. Does he or ESPN really think that James was not offered or received incentives to go to that program? That in and of itself makes every statement he makes about programs at major universities hard to listen to.
Posted by: M Christian | November 15, 2010 at 08:13 AM
He is the most biased announcer that I have heard in recent memory. I turn off the audio when he's on.
Posted by: JBE | November 15, 2010 at 02:56 PM
Who exactly "generally praises his work"? I've never heard anyone have a kind word to say about his color commentary, even before he lost all credibility with by involving himself in the Texas Tech incident last year.
Posted by: PAK | November 15, 2010 at 03:58 PM
IMHO James is a dishonest person with an agenda...perfect for politics and espn. If he wants to get elected he will have to carpet bag out of texas like Hillary Clinton. New York here comes the James gang.... lucky you.
Posted by: Tate | November 16, 2010 at 03:09 AM
What I don't respect about James and most of the ESPN voices -is that they have been at the forefront of shoving this Boise st/Tcu ought to play for the N Title crap. The commentators always talk about Boise's win over OU in 06' yet fail to mention Peterson didn't play as well as ignoring OU's smack down of Tcu 35-10 in 08. They don't play the same schedule's OU or Lsu or even what USC plays sorry they should be able to play for the title.
Posted by: dion | November 19, 2010 at 08:44 AM
If you go look up the definition of DICK in the dictionary- it has his pic. He is the most self centered analysis i have ever heard.
Posted by: wayne A youngs | November 21, 2010 at 03:53 AM
Being an SMU alum, it is hard to believe that Craig James can look himself in the mirror
each morning for what he and others did to SMU football 25 years ago. Now he is taking the holier than thou approach by using his network to victimize Mike Leach and costing him his job. Why did James need to hire a high powered crisis management firm if he did not think he was the bad guy in the Leach affair? The biased reporting by ESPN at the Alamo Bowl made me sick. I will never watch another broadcast where James is the analyst. Conflicts abound in this whole mess and ESPN should take the high road and terminate James' contract immediately.
Posted by: Crimebuster | December 01, 2010 at 03:36 PM
Where the Hell is Adam. Tuber did use the little bitch. Nobody wants these people. I didn't even wathc Tech football this year and I have supported them for a long long time.
Posted by: Ron | January 20, 2011 at 01:33 PM
With such a huge disapproval rating, it makes one wonder how he is still employed by ESPN.
Posted by: Jackie Bolton | January 21, 2011 at 10:55 AM