Peter King is hanging up his pen and paper. Sort of.
In his weekly Football Morning in America column, one he’s penned for 27 of his 44 years covering football, King announced he was heading into semi-retirement. Quick to note he plans on working at something, he also made clear he’s taking a reduced role and will no longer continue his FMIA or Monday Morning Quarterback column.
King cited a loss of passion for the job, especially covering the day-to-day grind of the football world.
“It’s time. As most of you know, I’ve mostly moved away from the day-to-day minutiae of covering the league. Coaching searches, free-agency, the lead-up to the draft … It’s important, obviously. And last year I started noticing how much of it I simply didn’t care about. I had to force myself to be interested in things other than training camps and the games, and that’s no way to do this job.”
King, 66, has also been dealing with health issues over the last several months, a persistent cough that was eventually diagnoses as pneumonia. After getting his start with the Cincinnati Enquirer from the early to mid 80s, he was hired by Sports Illustrated in 1989, where he penned one of the magazine’s most popular columns. In addition to long-form weekly articles, he’s also written several books covering the game.
An NFL insider who covered the entire league, King was well-known for his yearly training camp tours. Pittsburgh held a special place in his heart, praising the quiet get-away nature of St. Vincent College where you’re just as likely to see a monk as you were a touchdown.
While King consistently praised the Steelers’ stability and consistency, he also proved to be at odds with the fanbase over the years. He left Troy Polamalu off his Hall of Fame ballot, citing the belief less likely candidates needed his vote more than Polamalu did, a flawed way of submitting a ballot that’s supposed to be based on the most-worthy candidates and nothing else.
Most recently, King gave the nod to Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett over the Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt, who he slotted behind Garrett and Dallas Cowboys’ LB Micah Parsons. King cited a combination of the eye test and analytics to give Garrett the nod, a choice that rankled Steelers’ Nation.
His column included two shoutouts to Steelers, one past and one present. On his “Mr. Nice Guys” list of the best people he’s covered who played in the NFL, he included Charlie Batch on that list.
“Charlie Batch. His work with the needy in hardscrabble areas of Pittsburgh is inspirational. Should write a book on how players, even non-superstar players, can make a huge difference in their hometowns.
Batch has continued to give back to the Pittsburgh region long after his playing days ended. He is one of the best people to represent the city and the community. King also included Cam Heyward as fourth on his “non-QB” nice guys list.
“Cam Heyward. Genuine and thoughtful, while being a beast between the lines. He’s arranged for each male student in 11 Pittsburgh high schools—many indigent kids—to get a free suit during their high school years.”
King wrote columns and created video features on Heyward and his Heyward House Foundation earlier this year. That attention likely helped Heyward win this year’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, an overdue honor. And King deserves credit for that.
Love him or hate him, King was a titan of the industry. One that’s undergoing plenty of landscape shifts over the last several years. And sportswriters like King covering the NFL for decades, watching the game explode into dominating the culture, might not exist again.
