Peter King Retires Following Legendary NFL Reporting Career; Covered 40 Super Bowls

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Legendary NFL reporter Peter King is stepping away from the beat after more than 40 years.

King announced his retirement in his column Monday for NBC Sports.

“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.”

King began his career in the newspaper industry at the Cincinnati Enquirer and Newsday in the 1980s before joining Sports Illustrated in 1989 and becoming one of the NFL’s premier voices. He spent the vast majority of his career at SI, with his “Monday Morning Quarterback” columns becoming must-reads for every NFL fan.

Over the course of his career, King was named National Sportswriter of the Year three times and became one of the lead voices behind the scenes in selecting members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In 2006, King became a regular fixture on NBC’s Football Night in America broadcasts leading into Sunday Night Football. He left Sports Illustrated in 2018 to join NBC full time, with his Monday column coming over and being renamed “Football Morning in America.”

King wrote he first began considering retirement after last season, as he found himself losing passion for the “day-to-day minutiae of covering the league.”

“Don’t mean to be so deep; many of you who know me understand I’m pretty shallow. But I’ve found myself wondering, Am I meant to do one thing from the time I walk out of college until the day they put me in the ground?” King wrote. “And who knows—I may find myself jonesing to do something in the media when I’m bored in three months. But it’s like when Atlanta writer Jeff Schultz retired in December and said, ‘Let me get bored. I want to know what that feels like.’ That resonated. I know I’ll want to do something with my time eventually. I just don’t know what it is.”

King said he hopes stepping away will allow young voices in sports reporting to emerge, taking the baton and covering the NFL with fervor while also holding the league accountable.

While he would not rule out staying in the media game in some fashion, King is walking away from the full-time grind and leaving massive shoes that need filling behind him.