Craig James still in the news. Now contemplating a US Senate run

Talk about timing.

Former SMU football star and ESPN analyst Craig James, whose complaint to Texas Tech University officials led to the firing of Red Raiders football coach Mike Leach, told a Dallas TV station that he is not ruling out a run for the U.S. Senate seat that Kay Bailey Hutchison is expected to vacate after the March 2 primary.

James is not concerned whether the Leach firing controversy would hurt him politically.

“Any mom or dad who knew what we knew at the time that we knew it would’ve taken the same action that we did,” he said. “Whatever the consequences are, we didn’t care about that. We cared about doing what was right and protecting and taking care of our son (Adam).”

James, who described himself as conservative and concerned about the government getting too involved in people’s lives, will be the luncheon keynote speaker at a Jan. 14 legislative forum the conservative think-tank Texas Public Policy Foundation is sponsoring.

Knowing the Austin press corps, James is likely to be asked more about the complaint that led to the Leach firing than about his political ambitions.