Peter King's hypocrisy disgusts me

DrAstroZoom · Sep 8, 2009

Within one page, Peter King goes from this:

"The truth of the matter is ... somebody is going to die here in the NFL. It's going to happen.''

-- Cincinnati's Carson Palmer, in my quarterback roundtable discussion this week in Sports Illustrated.

I found that comment chilling, to say the least. The other quarterbacks at the table -- Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers -- didn't dispute Palmer's words, and when he said them, the table got very quiet. They know. They feel the same thing happening in this game, too. And the fact that this statement has gotten zero traction in the last four days tells me something that all of us should find frightening: People read that line and just said, Yup, someone's going to die. We accept that. Now bring on football, dammit!
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... to this:

"I like it. I like it. I mean, it's man-eat-man out here.''

-- Minnesota tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, on the illegal crackback block administered by Brett Favre on Houston safety Eugene Wilson last Monday.

The block, of course, was reprehensible, because Favre could have seriously injured Wilson. But it was also one of those things that gets a player closer to his teammates. I was in the Vikings locker room after the game, and the players clearly appreciated that Favre was blocking for Percy Harvin instead of ole-ing a phony block. It's like a pitcher in baseball who "protects'' his teammates by hitting an opposing batter. It might not make sense to people on the outside, but it's part of the culture of the locker room. And Favre won over a few guys the other night by doing that.
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So we should be appalled that fans are so accepting of violence, yet understand Favre's actions as "team building"? I sent him a blistering e-mail.

BigDogsHunt · Sep 8, 2009

Why is someone (QB?) going to die in NFL game??? Why does the "roundtable of QB's" feel this way??

DrAstroZoom · Sep 8, 2009

BigDogsHunt said:

Why is someone (QB?) going to die in NFL game??? Why does the "roundtable of QB's" feel this way??
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Actually, I don't think Palmer was referring to QBs specifically there. Here's the full quote:

My question was about the endless defensive grousing concerning the overprotection of quarterbacks by the NFL, and Palmer went on, stridently, for a couple of minutes. "I don't mind [the league's protection of passers],'' he said. "In fact, I love it.'' In SI's preview issue, we edited some of his comments for space reasons, but here's much of what he said:

"Guys are getting so big, so fast, so explosive,'' Palmer said. "The game's so violent. Now that they're cutting out the wedge deal on kickoff returns, those guys [are] coming free, and at some point somebody is going to die in football. And I hope it's not anyone at this table, and I hope it doesn't happen, obviously. Everyone talks about the good old days, when guys were tough and quarterbacks got crushed all the time, but back in the day, there weren't defensive ends that were Mario Williams -- 6-7, 300 pounds, 10 percent body fat, running a 4.7 40.

"The game has changed, the game is getting bigger, faster, stronger, and there needs to be more protection. If I weren't a quarterback, I would be mad about the rules. If I were a safety or a defensive back, I would be mad about the new rule that you can't hit your helmet above their shoulder pads or whatever it is because it does take some of the ferociousness out of the game, but somebody is going to get seriously hurt, possibly die.

"I don't think you can change it. It's the nature of the world. The ways that guys train now, the way that guys eat and take vitamins and take supplements and all these things, guys are getting more muscle mass, more explosiveness, faster. Like I said, I hope to God it doesn't happen. Since I've been in the league, I feel like the D-Ends that come into the league, they're freaks, they're freaks of nature, and I hope it doesn't happen, but the rules need to be adjusted a little bit because [the violence] is getting a little out of control.''

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/09/06/mmqb/3.html#ixzz0QWWyzTZz
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Disgustipate · Sep 8, 2009

I think there are a whole lot better reasons not to read Peter King than any sort of hypocrisy. His column is basically a fat, middle aged sport nerds vanity blog whose only redeeming feature is inside access. It's fluff.

DrAstroZoom · Sep 8, 2009

Disgustipate said:

I think there are a whole lot better reasons not to read Peter King than any sort of hypocrisy. His column is basically a fat, middle aged sport nerds vanity blog whose only redeeming feature is inside access. It's fluff.
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The sad thing is, I usually like most of King's stuff.

Disgustipate · Sep 8, 2009

DrAstroZoom said:

The sad thing is, I usually like most of King's stuff.
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Well, someone has got to I suppose, heh.

I just can't get past the first pointless travel, coffee, or celebrity namedrop.

jdang307 · Sep 8, 2009

Can't stand almost anyone over at CNNSI except for Dr. Z who unfortunately cannot write at this time. Peter King is the worst.

Section126 · Sep 8, 2009

My favorite Peter King quote:

"Ronnie Brown does not do anything any better than any other NFL running back."

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