Peter King, who covered the National Football League since the 1980s and became famous for over a quarter-century of his “Monday Morning Quarterback” and then “Football Morning In America” columns, has retired from “active duty,” so to speak, doing so fittingly in his column today (FMIA: It’s Time. Who’s Complaining? Not Me.).
King has had an illustrious career covering every dynasty from Bill Parcells’ New York Giants and Bill Walsh’s San Francisco 49ers of the late 1980s to the present-day Kansas City Chiefs of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, and every down in between. His “Ten Things I Think I Think” have been a must-read for football fans across the world, and – like him or not – just about everyone had an opinion on something he’s written.
King got his start covering Sam Wyche’s Cincinnati Bengals back in the day, and if you’re too young to remember Wyche, here’s the best introduction we can give you: Sam Wyche 1989 – “You don’t live in Cleveland”.
“Who’s complaining?,” King wrote, in his final column, fittingly entitled, “It’s time.” “Not me. I’m the luckiest man on the face of the earth. 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).”
This writer (me, not King) has read most of King’s work – I’m a fan. So I’m not going to spoil the column by telling any of his favorite moments over the years, or anything like that. I’ll let you go to the link in the early part of this story, click on it and go to it, read it for yourself and let Mr. King do that. He deserves a great send-off. I will say this: my own column, “What’s Causing All This,” that appears regularly here on TheFootballBeat.com, was inspired by “Monday Morning Quarterback.”
Mr. King, sir, you have inspired so many of us. You are more respected in this industry than you will likely ever know. You’re not dead – LOL – but you will be greatly missed, and whatever endeavor is next for you, I and so many others, I’m sure, will follow with tremendous interest and wish you nothing but the best. Thank you for so many great times, so much information, and so many football memories.
