Posts tagged PeterKing at FanHouse

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine sent me this Peter King interview from The Redskins Blog and he talks about fanbases who hate him or think King hates them:

"The fans of the Houston Texans are not passionate. The fans of the Arizona Cardinals are not passionate. I mean, I came out here this morning, and all you see are people who are just NUTTY about the Redskins. They're out of their minds. They're crazy."

Uh oh. I don't know what Cardinals fans think about that assessment of their fandom, but Houston Texan fans were non amused. The Texans as a newish team clearly don't have the largest fanbase in the league, but the ones they have don't take kindly to having their fandom questioned by someone who knows little about their team and has an unhealthy Favre obsession (visually illustrated by the above short Peter King YouTube labeled "Brett Favre's Testicles").

I like Sports Illustrated writer Peter King. He's a well-connected NFL reporter and, at least based on the couple of times I've met him in person, a very nice man.

But I'm beginning to suspect that King might be just a wee bit obsessed with Brett Favre.

In his Monday Morning Quarterback column this week, King mentions that readers have told him they're sick and tired of his constant focus on Favre, and he vows that he has listened. He promises that this week's column will talk about the nine training camps he's visited, and devote attention to the 2,500 or so NFL players who have been in training camp the last couple of weeks, and not the one who's been home in Mississippi.

That sounded great. King visited the Packers' training camp, and I thought it would be interesting to read his insights on which of the Packers' rookies were looking good, or how the offensive line was shaping up, or whether the Packers' pair of 30-something cornerbacks had fresh legs.

Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports NFL reporter Peter King gave the commencement address at his alma mater, Ohio University, and you won't be surprised to learn that it includes a reference to getting to know Brett Favre. But before that the speech features the words of a former NFL coach:

I'll start by paraphrasing that wise old Cowboy philosopher Jimmy Johnson: "How 'bout them Bobcats!''

For the past 19 years, I've written about the NFL for Sports Illustrated, the largest sports magazine in the world. For the last 11, I've written a column for SI.com, Monday Morning Quarterback, that 2 million people click on, usually when they want to play hooky from work or school. I talk to millions Sunday nights during the fall on NBC. But preparing a commencement speech is far more harrowing than writing for, or talking to, millions of people I can't see.

King also offers advice from Peyton Manning, Mike Tomlin and Bob Costas. He concludes with his trademark 10 things he thinks he thinks.

I'm not much fond of immediate draft grades. Assessments of players the day after the draft are often comical (and/or painful check out 5:10 and 8:55) in retrospect. The biggest problem is there is no one that can know more than just a brief snap shot of each player and how each player fits into 32 teams. And at the time they are doing their draft grades, they are probably a little tired and writing to deadline.

I'm not going to pretend I can grade out players before they take a snap in the NFL. But what I do know is that so many of the so called draft 'experts' are wildly off base in assessing the draft from what you know right now. So I am going to grade their Houston Texans draft grades, though I am sure you would find inaccuracies and superficiality in just about every team's grades:

The Draft Expert Losers:

Jason Cole, Yahoo Sports: "[Frank] Okam, a former defensive tackle, is likely to shift to guard, a clever move by teams that realize that non-athletic DTs can make for cheap, athletic G's."

Huh? Okam was drafted as a defensive tackle, to be a space eating guy next to Okoye that the Texans did not have. Nobody from the Texans is talking about him as a guard and are happy to get a DT who is large but can still move well.

I give Cole a grade of D. He is spared an F because he gave the same grade to the Texans that I did.

Peter King, America's most successful NFL reporter, wrote something ridiculous -- but not surprising -- about Giants owner John Mara in this week's Monday Morning Quarterback column on SI.com.

King noted that Mara is planning to force Giants season ticket holders to pay thousands of dollars for personal seat licenses if they want to keep their season tickets when the Giants move into a new stadium in two years. And in the process he made Mara sound like a martyr.

King wrote, "I feel for one owner here -- John Mara of the Giants." And he then proceeded to describe how he knows that Mara "is sick about what he knows he's going to have to do": Charge what King estimates will be an average of $25,000 per fan to at least 30,000 fans to buy personal seat licenses at the Giants' new stadium.

Dallas' Greg Ellis, who battled back from an Achilles injury and a position change, has been named the Associated Press 2007 NFL Comeback Player of the Year. It's a great story for Ellis, a 10-year veteran who moved from defensive end to outside linebacker, particularly since there was some speculation that he might not even make the team coming out of training camp.

Instead, he registered 12.5 sacks playing opposite DeMarcus Ware. Ellis earned 12 of the 50 first-place votes, followed by Randy Moss (10) and Ben Roethlisberger (7).

Steelers fans might be wondering how Big Ben didn't win the award, and Peter King tells you why he liked Ellis over Roethlisberger:

From Todd Soisson of Lansdale, Pa.: How can Big Ben Roethlisberger not be the choice for comeback player of the year?'

King: Because Greg Ellis, at 32, came back from a completely torn Achilles (death to an aging pass-rusher) to have a career-high 12.5 sacks for the best team in the NFC. Roethlisberger played superbly, and he certainly merited consideration. But in terms of two excellent players in 2008, which Roethlisberger and Ellis both were, I thought Ellis' comeback was a greater one.

I have no issue with Ellis winning the award -- he had a spectacular season -- but just to play devil's advocate, what's more impressive: recovering from almost really dying to throw for 3,154 yards and 32 touchdowns, or recovering from a tendon injury in your foot? Like I said, Ellis deserves the award, but I'm not following King's logic.

In seven weeks, the Ravens' season could already be decided. They're currently 3-2, with losses to division opponents Cleveland and Cincinnati, and will have played three more AFC North games before hosting the New England Patriots on December 3.

This game could have playoff implications, or it could mean absolutely nothing; that'll be decided in the coming weeks. One potential story line is courtesy of former Ravens linebacker Adalius Thomas. Thomas signed a ginormous contract with the Patriots this off-season, and it's hard to argue that it wasn't a sweet deal for both sides.

In the latest edition of Sports Illustrated, Thomas compared his new employer with his former one:

"You've got to remember, I'm coming in from Baltimore," Thomas told the magazine. "People there wanted the limelight, people sought out the limelight, starting with the head coach. It was a star-studded system. Here, it's about as different as you can get. Everybody here shies away from being the star guy. Nobody on this team beats his chest. They just all go about their business. And win."

Ravens head coach, Brian Billick, who loves hearing himself talk, offered this after first declining to respond: ""Was AD one of those guys concerned about being in the limelight when he was here?"

Zinger! Honestly, is anything Thomas said surprising? Or more importantly, untrue? The Ravens are a team full of superstars, led by Ray Lewis, a guy who can't stand not being in the spotlight. No word on who wrote the article, but if it's Peter King, I fully expect Thomas to deny making the comments before the weekend's up.

Last week, it was Dallas head coach Wade Phillips. Now it's Miami linebacker Jason Taylor. According to the Miami Herald, Taylor, through a team spokesman, said he never told Peter King that it would be best if he was traded to a contender during the off-season. Leading up to the Pats-Cowboys game, King reported on HBO's Inside the NFL that Phillips told him, "New England was caught cheating, and it is a black mark on their success." Except Phillips denied it.

Taylor was disputing comments King made on this week's Inside the NFL segment.

King said he asked Taylor on Wednesday if he's sorry that he wasn't dealt before Tuesday's trade deadline. 'He said, `You're putting me in a tough spot here,' '' King said. ' `I've had 10 great years here. I owe a lot to the Dolphins.' ''

But King also said, "Clearly, Jason Taylor thinks not only would it be in the team's best interests for him to go in the offseason, but it would be in his best interests to go to a contender in the offseason for the last couple of years of his career.''

Sports Illustrated NFL reporter Peter King is, of course, not backing off the comments he made last week on HBO's Inside the NFL, even though Cowboys coach Wade Phillips has accused him of misquoting him.

In today's Monday Morning Quarterback column, King gives his explanation:

I think, for the record, here's my side of Wade Phillips calling me a quote-fabricator. We spoke last Tuesday night about his team's miracle win in Buffalo, and after that we talked about the idiocy of the late-game field-goal do-overs, about the Patriots' Spygate scandal, and about how he hopes the league will pass a coach-to-defense communication system the same way the league allows quarterbacks to get plays called into their helmets.

He said the league's sanctioning the Patriots for cheating "was a black mark on their success ... not that I bet they gained much from it.'' He praised the Patriots and thought they deserved all the credit for winning the three Super Bowls.

I reported what he said about the "black mark'' on HBO's Inside the NFL show, and Phillips denied saying it in press conferences over the next two days. All I said afterwards was that I stand behind what I said, and that's all I will continue to say, because really, what else is there to say? He said it, I reported it, he disputes it. I dispute his denial. This job is based in part on trust, and you are going to have to decide who you trust -- Phillips or me.

I agree, that is what it breaks down to, who do you trust, King or Phillips. And I trust King, mostly because King's the one who was writing down everything that was said in the conversation.

Peter King is perhaps the most popular writer at SI.com. His Monday Morning Quarterback feature draws huge traffic. He's well-liked and well-respected among his fellow journalists. He's also, judging by the one time I've personally met him, a very nice guy.

And he's involved in a bit of a controversy right now, having said on HBO's Inside the NFL that Cowboys coach Wade Phillips told him, "New England was caught cheating, and it is a black mark on their success." Phillips denies saying or thinking that.

Any time a source accuses a journalist of putting words in his mouth that he didn't say, that's a serious accusation. And usually, assuming the journalist stands by his quote -- which King does -- the journalist's employer stands by him. So it's a little strange to go to SI.com right now (9:30 a.m. ET) and see two headlines on the front page of the site. One headline reads, "Cowboys coach denies calling Pats' titles tainted," and the other reads, "Did Phillips rip Pats' titles?"

Follow both links, and you'll see that neither story says anything along the lines of, "Peter King stands by his story, and Sports Illustrated stands by him." In fact, neither story even acknowledges that King writes for Sports Illustrated; both stories only mention his affiliation to HBO.

It's strange, to say the least, that this is the way SI.com reacts to a coach accusing one of its most prominent writers of misquoting him. If I were King, I wouldn't be pleased.