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–.”