Craig James
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Craig James | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | January 2, 1961 |
| Place of birth |  Jacksonville, Texas |
| Position(s) | Running back |
| College | SMU |
| NFL Draft | 1983 / Round 7/ Pick 187 |
| Pro Bowls | 1 |
| Stats | |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 1983 1984-1988 |
Washington Federals (USFL) New England Patriots |
- For the footballer, see Craig James (footballer)
Jesse Craig James (born January 2, 1961 in Jacksonville, Texas) is an American sports commentator for college football games on the ABC television network. Prior to becoming a sportscaster, James was a professional football player for the New England Patriots of the National Football League and for the Washington Federals of the United States Football League.
James attended Stratford High School in Houston, Texas, where he was a star on Stratford's 1978 State Championship football team. James, a running back, also attended Southern Methodist University where he and teammate Eric Dickerson formed what was known as the "Pony Express" backfield (SMU's mascot is the mustang). In the 1980 Holiday Bowl, James' offensive production of 225 rushing yards and 9.9 yards/carry were both Holiday Bowl records that stood for 13 and 15 years respectively.[1] In 1982, he scored on a 96-yard touchdown reception to set a new record as the longest scoring play in Southwest Conference history.[2] James was a part of the SMU teams that were found to have committed numerous NCAA violations, including receiving large sums of money from school boosters, which led to the enactment of the "Death Penalty" upon the school by the NCAA,[3] although James himself was never accused of any wrongdoing.
He graduated in 1983 and went to play in the USFL for one year, after which he joined the Patriots. He was named Offensive Player of the Year by the Vince Lombardi Committee in 1985 and started in both the 1985 Pro Bowl and Super Bowl XX. In the 1985–86 season, James rushed for 1,227 yards, becoming the last white player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season. He was a major factor in the Patriots 31-14 upset win over the Miami Dolphins in the AFC title game, rushing for a career postseason high 105 yards. However, he was dominated by the Bears defense in Super Bowl XX, who held him to only 1 yard on 5 carries.
After his retirement from playing in 1989, James went on to become a radio analyst for SMU college football games and then the sports anchor for KDFW-TV. During this time, he also appeared on ESPN as a studio analyst on the College GameDay and College Football Scoreboard programs. In 1996, he joined CBS where he served as a studio analyst on their College Football Today as well as The NFL Today programs before becoming a game announcer on The NFL on CBS with Kevin Harlan. During his CBS stint, he also served as a reporter during the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship as well as the 1998 Winter Olympics. In 2003, James moved to ABC.
James also operates his own broadcasting school, eponymously called the Craig James School of Broadcasting. He now lives in Plano, Texas, with his wife Marilyn and their four children. His brother Chris was a major league baseball player from 1986 through 1995.
[edit] External links
- Craig James bio on ABC Medianet
- Craig James bio on CBS SportsLine
- Craig James statistics on Pro Football Reference
- Craig James articles on ESPN.com
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Holiday Bowl individual rushing records. Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. Retrieved on January 5, 2006.
- ^ No. 82 in the 90 Greatest Moments in SMU Football History. SMU Athletics. Retrieved on January 5, 2006.
- ^ Layden, Tim. "Embarrassing moments", Sports Illustrated, 2006-07-14.
| Preceded by Tony Collins |
New England Patriots Starting Running Back 1984-1986 |
Succeeded by Tony Collins |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | James, Craig |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American football sportscaster |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 2, 1961 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Jacksonville, Texas |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
