For the first time since 1983, Peter King is not at an NFL training camp. He’s enjoying retirement.
The sports world was shocked when the prominent football writer announced in February that he was stepping down. King has been a huge part of our NFL experience, most notably at Sports Illustrated and later at NBC Sports. His Football Morning in America (previously Monday Morning Quarterback) column was a weekly must-read.
The 67-year-old is embarking on new challenges. Some he was happy to reveal now. Some he’ll announce at a later date. We caught up with King to ask him about his past, present, and future.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Awful Announcing: If you weren’t at a training camp, what were you doing in 1983?
Peter King: “I was working at The Cincinnati Enquirer. I’m fairly positive in 1983, in early August, if the Cincinnati Reds were home, I was covering the Reds. I was the backup beat guy. So, I was either covering a game that day or I might have been on the road with them, but I wasn’t doing anything at all with the NFL at that point.”
Do you miss it?
“To a degree. I’m just not one of those people who wakes up in the morning and curses my fate or says ‘Oh my God, I wish I was doing X when I’m doing Y.’ I’ve been a little surprised that I haven’t missed it more than I have. The first preseason game was on—not that I’m a fan at all of preseason football—and I didn’t watch a snap. I watched Simone Biles on TV. I miss it a bit but I have filled my life with a few other things in the last six months.”
What have you been up to?
“My wife and I have family from Spain to England, Seattle to Berkeley, California, Pittsburgh to New Jersey to New England. We’ve never had a family reunion. When I retired, I said, ‘It’s time to have a family reunion.’ It”s been a significant part-time job organizing everything. That was fun and rewarding, especially because some people in the family have not met other people in the family. That was cool, and I’m so glad we were able to do that.”
What else have you been doing?
“My hometown is a little town in Connecticut called Enfield. A couple of months ago, three guys I know in Enfield called, and they said, ‘ We’ve got massive budget cuts in the schools. All of the sports in 6th, 7th, 8th, and freshman year in high school—17 different sports, and about 290 kids—had been cut. They were starting a movement. I said, I’ll help. We are determined to raise $100,000 by next February to get these sports reinstated. I remember how important sports were in my junior high school and high school years. I can’t imagine not having that as an after-school activity.”
Is there a story you wish you wrote but didn’t for some reason?
“There are probably two. When I was at Sports Illustrated, all the writers were assigned people to write obituaries on. Whenever that person died, your story on that person would run. I never got a chance to do it before I left, and my assignment was Jerry Jones. I always thought, ‘How great would it be to take a deep dive into the life and times of Jerry Jones and what he meant to the NFL.’
“The only other one, I wanted to do a week in the life of Patrick Mahomes. Had I worked this year, I was going to try. There’s a good chance he would have said no. (Why would he want) a sports writer hanging out in his house? He did that last year with Netflix. But I would have tried.”
Are you looking forward to being like the rest of us: watching games all Sunday?
“First of all, I don’t know all the channels and all the things that I need to get to watch all the games. Plus, in my last couple of years, I stayed home on half the Sundays. My Sundays, when I stayed home, would be 80% Scott Hanson (host of NFL RedZone). I love Scott Hanson. I think he is a gift. I love just going from game to game.”
How much of a grind was doing the Football Morning in America column?
“Every Sunday, I wrote about 50% of the column before the games started because you can’t write 11,000 words in six hours. I would wake up and say, ‘I’m interested in that Buffalo-Kansas City game.’ I was in touch with the PR guys from both teams. ‘If you guys win this game, I’m going to call you, and I’d love to get either Mahomes or whoever wins.’ But most Sundays, I didn’t have much of an idea of what I was going to do.
“Now, I wake up most Sundays saying, ‘Man, I’m glad I don’t have to write today.’ Many Sundays, I don’t even think about it at all. It has been a lot of fun for me to see what else there is to do in life.”
Was there an NFL city you looked forward to visiting strictly because of the food?
“I would say there are two. I loved going to New Orleans, not just because of the food. But because it just felt like you were in Europe. It’s such an interesting, unique place. They have so many different kinds of food and so many different neighborhoods. I loved it. There are great places. in every city. But I also love going to Green Bay. I love the atmosphere. I love the people. I loved all of the brew pubs. I love the Titletown District.
“The great benefit of my job is that for 40 years I had the ability to be a travel guide. If you want a great pizza in L.A., you’ve got to go to Mozza. You want great ice cream in Boston? Go to Picco. I’ve loved the travel part of the job so much.”
What will the NFL look like in 10 years?
“I think it depends on whether the NFL pays attention to some of the warning signs right now. I think it’s terrible that the NFL wants to play 18 games. I think it’s terrible, as Mike Florio has reported, that there are those in the NFL who want to play 20. You’ve got to be incredibly naive to think that’s not going to have an impact on their (players’) long-term health.
“The other thing that worries me is sports gambling. I think it’s extremely shortsighted to be selling your soul for more millions. You ask about football in 10 years. What about society in 10 years? Will Gamblers Anonymous have 10 times the number of (addicts) in 10 years than it has now because of sports gambling? Will there be kids addicted in high school who go to college and flunk out of college because all they care about is the next bet? Maybe (I’m) an alarmist. I have no proof. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I can see it happening.”
What’s next for you professionally and personally?
“I’m going to be doing a couple of things this fall, neither of which I can talk about. I’ll be watching every Sunday. I am excited about just sitting there watching. I go to bed at 9 or 9:30 most nights. Unless it’s a great game, I’ll go to bed at halftime of the Sunday night game. I’ll be just like everybody in America. I’ll get up and look at my phone. ‘Who won last night?’ I’ll say, ‘Man, I’m glad I wasn’t up till 4:15 writing about this stuff.’
“My wife and I, this fall, we’re going to drive across the United States. I think we’re going to go to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Kirk Ferentz has invited me to go to an Iowa football game. So, we’re going to see Wisconsin-Iowa. I don’t want to make a hundred plans. I want to wake up and say, ‘Hey, what do you want to see today?’ I’m excited about that.”
