Jump to content

Peter King announces retirement after 44 years


Recommended Posts

Peter King is putting a -30- on a Hall of Fame career.

The sportswriting legend, 66, announced in his “Football Morning in America” column for NBC that he is hanging up the pen after 44 years and will no longer write his weekly Monday column.

“Who’s complaining? Not me. I’m the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” King wrote. “To be a long-termer in an increasingly short-term business, to write this column for 27 years and to be a sportswriter for 44, well, that’s something I’ll always be grateful for. Truly, I’ve loved it all.

“I’m retiring*. I use an asterisk because I truly don’t know what the future holds for me. I probably will work at something, but as I write this I have no idea what it will be. Maybe it will be something in the media world, but just not Football Morning in America (nee Monday Morning Quarterback).”

King introduced his retirement announcement by stating how after attending 40 consecutive Super Bowls, he’d enjoy just taking one game in as a spectator.
His decision stemmed from four factors: time, wondering what else is out there for him to do, the evolution of his column and his family.

King wrote that he realized there’s plenty about the NFL he’s not interested in covering anymore and “that’s no way to do a job.”

He acknowledged he had considered retiring last year, even being asked by Chiefs coach Andy Reid if he was going to retire, and figured this would be his last year.

King made it clear he also wants to be around his family more.

“The sacrifices my wife, Ann, and my kids, Laura and Mary Beth, and their families have made for me to do this job at the highest level have been significant,” said King, who previously wrote his column for Sports Illustrated. “To do this job well, you’ve got to have some selfishness in you, and you’ve got to miss time at home—lots of it. I don’t feel great about lots of those times, but I don’t regret them either. To do this job well, it’s a fact that some things in your family will suffer. Also: All three male members of my family (dad, two brothers) died by the age of 64, before ever experiencing retirement. And my buddy Don Banks, dead at 57 in a Canton hotel room in 2019. All of it matters.”

King will still have a column next week featuring letters from readers, and he used Monday’s version to list some of his favorite stories, “freezing idiotic takes” as he labeled them, the nice guys in the sport and to give thanks to those who have helped him along the way.

“That’s what I’ll miss. ‘Heisman. ‘Two Jet Chip Wasp.’ ‘Corn Dog.’ ‘Tom and Jerry.’ The brains of football, the choreography of football, beating the brawn of football. I’ll miss bringing that to you, and I’ll miss your appreciation for it,” King wrote. “But you’ll find it. The next generation will bring it to you.”

He ended his column like he always does with a haiku, this one bidding farewell.

Wrote King: “It’s been rewarding.

“The future? I do not know.

“But for now … –30–.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/nbc-s-peter-king-announces-retirement-after-44-years-covering-nfl/ar-BB1iUmxs?OCID=ansmsnnews11

 

  • Upvote 2
  • Sympathy 1
  • Post of the Week 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Warfish said:

Peter King is putting a -30- on a Hall of Fame career.

The sportswriting legend, 66, announced in his “Football Morning in America” column for NBC that he is hanging up the pen after 44 years and will no longer write his weekly Monday column.

“Who’s complaining? Not me. I’m the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” King wrote. “To be a long-termer in an increasingly short-term business, to write this column for 27 years and to be a sportswriter for 44, well, that’s something I’ll always be grateful for. Truly, I’ve loved it all.

“I’m retiring*. I use an asterisk because I truly don’t know what the future holds for me. I probably will work at something, but as I write this I have no idea what it will be. Maybe it will be something in the media world, but just not Football Morning in America (nee Monday Morning Quarterback).”

King introduced his retirement announcement by stating how after attending 40 consecutive Super Bowls, he’d enjoy just taking one game in as a spectator.
His decision stemmed from four factors: time, wondering what else is out there for him to do, the evolution of his column and his family.

King wrote that he realized there’s plenty about the NFL he’s not interested in covering anymore and “that’s no way to do a job.”

He acknowledged he had considered retiring last year, even being asked by Chiefs coach Andy Reid if he was going to retire, and figured this would be his last year.

King made it clear he also wants to be around his family more.

“The sacrifices my wife, Ann, and my kids, Laura and Mary Beth, and their families have made for me to do this job at the highest level have been significant,” said King, who previously wrote his column for Sports Illustrated. “To do this job well, you’ve got to have some selfishness in you, and you’ve got to miss time at home—lots of it. I don’t feel great about lots of those times, but I don’t regret them either. To do this job well, it’s a fact that some things in your family will suffer. Also: All three male members of my family (dad, two brothers) died by the age of 64, before ever experiencing retirement. And my buddy Don Banks, dead at 57 in a Canton hotel room in 2019. All of it matters.”

King will still have a column next week featuring letters from readers, and he used Monday’s version to list some of his favorite stories, “freezing idiotic takes” as he labeled them, the nice guys in the sport and to give thanks to those who have helped him along the way.

“That’s what I’ll miss. ‘Heisman. ‘Two Jet Chip Wasp.’ ‘Corn Dog.’ ‘Tom and Jerry.’ The brains of football, the choreography of football, beating the brawn of football. I’ll miss bringing that to you, and I’ll miss your appreciation for it,” King wrote. “But you’ll find it. The next generation will bring it to you.”

He ended his column like he always does with a haiku, this one bidding farewell.

Wrote King: “It’s been rewarding.

“The future? I do not know.

“But for now … –30–.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/nbc-s-peter-king-announces-retirement-after-44-years-covering-nfl/ar-BB1iUmxs?OCID=ansmsnnews11

 

Glad he is leaving.  Stephen A Smith next?  Fingers crossed!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 thing I think I think...

1. I think Peter King retired 10 years ago when he sold the rights to MMQB and nobody had the heart to tell him it was over. 

2. When he was relevant, I only scanned his column for Jets stuff. 

3. Coincidentally the Jets have not been relevant since Peter King was relevant.

 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Stopped reading him more than a decade ago.  The "worship all things New England Patriots" got old, and he has been suffering from Stephen King disease:  No editor to control the immense overflow of his output.

When you feel compelled to spill out 10,000 words every week, to describe a week's worth of professional football highlights AND your life interests, you better be really interesting or have really interesting views on the world.  Neither was the case.

Andy Reid's name for the winning Super Bowl play was "Corn Dog."  Riveting stuff!  What a scoop!  Where's the Pulitzer?

 

P.S. Wish him a happy retirement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The guy was a great writer and it was must reading for me every Monday.    Did he like Belichick and Brady, and write about them a lot, sure he did.  But they were a dynasty and one of the best teams ever in professional sports.  Should he have been focusing on the Jets, Browns and Lions all those years?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, rbstern said:

Stopped reading him more than a decade ago.  The "worship all things New England Patriots" got old, and he has been suffering from Stephen King disease:  No editor to control the immense overflow of his output.

When you feel compelled to spill out 10,000 words every week, to describe a week's worth of professional football highlights AND your life interests, you better be really interesting or have really interesting views on the world.  Neither was the case.

Andy Reid's name for the winning Super Bowl play was "Corn Dog."  Riveting stuff!  What a scoop!  Where's the Pulitzer?

 

P.S. Wish him a happy retirement.

He’s certainly part of the old guard that is fading out, but he did become a bit tedious and too human interest as his career went on. The nitty gritty of the league is hard to find from writers these days, which King used to do. On the video side, Sabol dying young was a brutal loss.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...