You’d be hard-pressed to find a more respected journalist in the industry when it comes to covering the NFL than Peter King. And his relationships with players, coaches and teams around the league reflect that. But as the NBC Sports reporter made his way around training camp(s) this summer, there was one head coach in particular who seemingly refused to speak with him.
Before coming to Sports Illustrated and eventually NBC Sports, King was a writer for The Cincinnati Enquirer (1980-85) and Newsday (1985-89). It was there that he fostered relationships with some of the titans of the game, including Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, who were with the New York Giants at the time.
According to a recent article in The Athletic, King and Belichick have not spoken to one another in 17 years. That’s mainly due to the fact that King heavily criticized the New England Patriots coach for his involvement in the Spygate scandal, in which it was discovered that the team was secretly videotaping opposing coaches’ signals during games under the direction of Belichick.
“That’s the cost of doing business sometimes,” King told The Athletic’s Dan Pompei. “He’s one of the greatest coaches of all time. I’m not sure I put him above Paul Brown, but he’s right up there with the greatest to ever coach in any sport. But I think what he did in 2007 was wrong.”
So did the NFL. After an investigation, Belichick was fined $500,000 (the maximum allowed by the NFL and the largest fine ever imposed on a coach in the league’s 101-year history) for his role in the incident. The NFL also fined the Patriots $250,000 and docked the team their original first-round selection in the 2008 NFL Draft, which would have been the 31st pick of the draft.
Belichick has paid the price for his actions, whether it’s been in the court of public opinion or directly from his wallet. And while he was once close with King, it appears that their relationship has not survived King’s criticism, as there’s been no stream of communication between the two in nearly two decades.
Funnily enough, back in 2011, King wrote an SI cover story titled “Bounty Culture” about the New Orleans Saints, regarding their bounty scandal, in which players were paid bonuses or “bounties” for injuring players on opposing teams. Because of his cover story, then-coach Sean Payton stopped talking to King. However, four years later they saw one another at an NFL meeting and according to The Athletic, Payton told him he was willing to move on.
Maybe that’ll be the case with Belichick, but 17 years is a whole heck of a lot longer than four. Bill can hold a grudge, but it doesn’t appear that King holds any resentment, putting their differences aside as the “cost of doing business.”
