As NBC Sports columnist Peter King prepares for retirement, he can look back on his archive of work with pride, having cemented himself as one of the greatest journalists ever to cover the NFL.
One particular story, however, sticks out in his mind for the wrong reason.
King recently confessed the biggest mistake he made in his 44-year career, and it involved the New England Patriots’ Deflategate scandal in 2015.
“I confirmed the ESPN story about the deflated footballs after Deflategate first hit the scene,” King told CBS Sports Radio. “It was a Monday night, and I called two people who I was sure would know exactly what happened. And they both confirmed the ESPN story, and so I wrote it, talked about it, and it turns out I was wrong.”
“That brought me a lot of shame. It really bothers me to this day.”
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For context, King reported after the AFC championship game in January 2015 that “11 or 12” of the Patriots’ footballs were underinflated by at least two pounds of pressure. It turned out only one of the footballs was two pounds underinflated, according to the Wells Report.
King noted that the error still bothers him to this day.
“That brought me a lot of shame,” continued King. “It doesn’t matter who I talked to. It doesn’t matter who told me anything. It’s my rear end on the line when I say something, when I confirm a story. And I was wrong. And that is something that will haunt me, really. It bothers me, literally bothers me to this day.”
King, who was working at Sports Illustrated at the time, said he went so far as to write a resignation letter in the aftermath of the controversy. The offer wasn’t accepted, and the mistake ultimately serves as a minor footnote to an illustrious 44-year career distinguished by King’s inimitable storytelling ability and reporting acumen.
The 66-year-old sportswriter will publish what is expected to be his final Football Morning in America column next Monday.
