News broke on Monday that ESPN and SEC Network personality Paul Finebaum is considering leaving his position with the network to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama.
Finebaum revealed the news to OutKick’s Clay Travis, sharing that he started contemplating the idea after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in Utah on Sept. 10.
While Finebaum has yet to decide for sure if he will run for office, if President Donald Trump calls and asks him to, the decision will be an easy one to make.
“Impossible to tell him no,” Paul Finebaum told Clay Travis. “There’s no way I could. I would tell him yes.”
Finebaum added in the interview that he voted for Donald Trump and would run as a Republican if he does end up running for a U.S. Senate seat.
Paul Finebaum has been with ESPN since August of 2013. He hosts The Paul Finebaum Show Monday-Friday from 3-7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network and ESPN Radio.
The 70-year-old Finebaum hosted a show the day Kirk was shot and killed and discussed with Travis what that was like.
“I spent four hours numb talking about things that didn’t matter to me. And it kept building throughout that weekend,” Finebaum said. “I felt very empty doing what I was doing that day.
“It’s hard to describe, not being involved in politics, how that affected me and affected tens of millions of people all over this country. And it was an awakening.”
Former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville is currently a U.S. Senator in Alabama but he is running for Governor of Alabama.
Former Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl considered running for Tuberville’s soon-to-be vacant seat, before deciding against it.
That could open the door for Paul Finebaum to get involved and run for the position.
“I was… hesitant at first because I was very aware of Bruce’s interest and [I’m a] huge fan of Bruce,” Finebaum told Travis. “I didn’t take it too seriously.
“I ended up talking to someone… who made it clear that there was a desire for me to be involved. And this person… was compelling and compassionate in the approach to me, and I started thinking about this.”
Finebaum and his wife moved to Charlotte in 2013 before he started with the SEC Network but moved back to Alabama earlier this year, according to OutKick.
He shared with Travis how quickly he would like to make a decision about a potential U.S. Senate run.
“I’ve been made aware that the qualifying deadline is in January. That’s ideal. I’d love to get to the end of the season. I don’t know if that’s realistic. I would like to make this decision fairly soon, in the next 30 to 45 days,” he said.