When the new year rolls in, there’s a good chance Paul Finebaum will be kicking off his run to the Alabama senate. The veteran analyst shocked college football with his thoughts on switching to politics. That’s quite a shift for a figure like him who is loved and hated in the sport for his opinions. But even before Paul Finebaum could give it a green light for himself, he had to get his wife’s clearance first. Paul Finebaum revealed what Linda Hudson thought of this head-turning move.

“I’ve been speaking to Alabamians for 35 years. I feel like I know who they are. I think they know who I am,” Finebaum told Clay Travis in a September 30 episode of Outkick The Show. Well, Finebaum isn’t native to Alabama, but he lives and breathes the spirit of the South, and has established himself as the biggest voice for Alabama football. His life is here. He told Travis that he’s really “intrigued” by this move. But when it comes to his wife’s take on this big transition, he has her approval.

“She believes in it,” Finebaum revealed. “Or, this conversation wouldn’t have gotten out of the kitchen,” he added. A decision this drastic definitely needs some input from one’s partner. Hudson is on board with the switch, supporting her husband when its needed. However, it doesn’t mean they see eye to eye on everything else. If you thought Finebaum was a harsh critic, his critic is his wife. he’s caught some strays from his own wife, Linda Hudson, for Finebaum’s craze about Arch Manning. “How could you be so stupid?” she’d said, Finebaum recounted on The Matt Barrie Show. (It wasn’t just Finebaum who was wrong about that disaster, after all.) But Finebaum’s interest in running for office is now becoming more concrete with time.

“I am thinking about it constantly,” he told Travis. College football coaches have made the jump to the office in the past. But a college football media personality, that too as big as Finebaum? That’s groundbreaking. But it’ll still be difficult decision for Finebaum to take, at this point of his career. That too all of a sudden. “I mean you’re sitting there talking to Stephen A. Smith. And as you’re waiting for your turn, you’re thinking ‘I wonder if I should move forward on this’ It’s been going on for a couple of days or, if not weeks, and it’s just hard to chisel it down to make an educated decision,” he added.

Politics is not a battle for the faint hearted. But that doesn’t mean people hold back on their aspirations to make some serious change for the better of this country. Paul Finebaum has already begun talks about this shift with ESPN. It all essentially kicked in for the analyst after one of America’s most polarizing incident took place.

Paul Finebaum “awakened” after Charlie Kirk’s passing

“I spent four hours numb, talking about things that didn’t matter to me,” Finebaum told Travis. Charlie Kirk’s death continues to have a grip over the country, and it is what pushed Paul Finebaum to give politics a serious thought. After the incident, Finebaum had a conversation with Tim Tebow, who was close to Kirk. The NFL star had sensed that was something wasn’t right with the analyst. After a chat with him, Paul Finebaum decided to listen to his inner voice.

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“He looked at me, he said, ‘Are you okay?’ I said, ‘It’s just… it’s hard to describe not being involved in politics, not being involved how that affected me and affected tens of millions of people all over this country.’ And it was an awakening,” he added more about what finally flipped the switch. Finebaum also said that people in Washington are also very keen on having him making the transition to politics. He’s a huge figure in Alabama, and Finebaum knows how to leverage that in his favor.

But, will ESPN be letting someone like Paul Finebaum go? He told Clay Travis that he has so far only spoken with Magnus Burke, who is now President of Content at the network. “He was very supportive,” Finebaum said of their exchange. ‘They’ll support me as I work through the decision,” he added. The network and fans will surely miss his

pointed attacks on college football personalities. But as he mulls over this huge decision, he knows he’ll have his wife’s support behind him as well.