Craig James (running back)

Jesse Craig James (born January 2, 1961) is an American former professional football player and sports commentator. He was a running back for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL) and for the Washington Federals of the United States Football League (USFL). He then became a commentator for the ABC and ESPN television networks. James ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate in Texas in 2012, but lost in the first round of the Republican primary.

James was born in Jacksonville, Texas, in 1961 and grew up in the Houston area. When he was in the first grade, his parents divorced and he moved with his mother and brother (former Major League Baseball player Chris James) to Pasadena, Texas. James has talked about growing up witnessing his mother being abused and struggling financially to support her sons.

James attended Stratford High School in Houston, where he was a star running back on their 1978 Texas class 4A championship football team, setting the single-season Texas 4A rushing record with 2,411 yards gained in 15 games. James also played on his high school baseball team and was offered a contract by the New York Yankees out of high school to play first base in the minor leagues, but chose to pursue a football career instead.

James was heavily recruited out of high school and decided to attend Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. James stated that he decided on SMU because his girlfriend at the time (and future wife), Marilyn, was already a freshman student there. Parade's national high school running back of the year, Eric Dickerson, as well as a large number of blue-chip recruits, also signed with SMU in 1979. The star running-back tandem was known as "The Pony Express", and the tandem would alternate possessions throughout their four-year careers at SMU.

In his freshman year in 1979, James proved more reliable than Dickerson, outgaining him 761 yards to 477, and was named the Southwest Conference's Offensive Newcomer of the Year. In the 1980 Holiday Bowl (later known as the "Miracle Bowl"), James ran for 225 rushing yards and 9.9 yards/carry in a losing effort, records that stood for 13 and 15 years respectively.

Though the pair continued to alternate possessions at tailback, by 1982 Dickerson had established himself as the featured back, as he carried 232 times for 1,617 yards while James carried 197 times for 938 yards. James took over punting duties midway through the season after the regular punter was injured, and finished sixth in the nation in punting. That year, he also scored on a 96-yard touchdown reception to set a record as the longest scoring play in Southwest Conference history.

James played on the 1981 SMU team that won the Southwest Conference title while being on NCAA probation as a result of recruiting violations dating back to the mid-1970s. In later years, SMU was further caught up in the Southern Methodist University football scandal, which involved payments to players in the 1983 recruiting class, with such payments improperly continuing while SMU was again on probation in 1985 and 1986. As a result of the repeated violations, SMU received the "death penalty" from the NCAA, shutting down the program in 1987 and 1988. Neither James' recruitment nor his participation in the SMU football program was cited by the NCAA in levying sanctions against SMU.

In 2012, James admitted to having received what he called "an insignificant amount" of improper gifts while playing at SMU. He has always denied that improper financial inducements had anything to do with his decision to attend SMU.