Peter King's 'Open Letter' Preaching Safety To NFL Players Won't Make A Difference
By Matt Dolloff
BOSTON (CBS) -- After the calamity that was the Steelers and Bengals on Saturday night, it should have been expected that countless writers and pundits would dust off their soapboxes and preach about player safety and respecting the game and respecting each other and any other sanctimonious bluster they can megaphone to the populace. After a game filled with cheap shots and boneheaded mistakes, it's natural to tell the youngins "Don't ever conduct yourself like that."
One of the first high-profile writers to put his foot down is SI/MMQB's Peter King, who published an "open letter" to NFL players on Tuesday. Just seeing the words "open letter" instantly makes you smell sanctimony, and this one reeks. In a sport that can't seem to grow out of the violent tendencies of its dirtiest players, who continue to play with disregard for long-term mental health, something has to be done and the words King wrote today have to be said - but from him?
"I am writing to issue this plea: Take care of yourselves. Take care of your game," King writes. That sentence is essentially the thesis of this open letter, which is about insufferable as it gets for holier-than-thou lectures from sports writers.
That's not to say King is a crappy writer or doesn't know what he's talking about. He is among the most respected football writers in the business and has written some good books about the game. But nowadays, he too often comes off as a mouthpiece for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who is the mouthpiece for the owners. Besides being a mouthpiece for a mouthpiece, King acts as something of a PR department for players and coaches. His Tom Brady fluff-pieces come to mind.
It's not to say that he's wrong, either. Players should take care of each other and themselves better. They do need to stop playing with the mentality of intentionally trying to injure each other. It's just not going to change when it's coming from King, or any sports writer, for that matter.
Imagine Marvin Lewis bringing King in to talk to the Bengals in person in the locker room. Would Vontaze Burfict listen to what he had to say? Would he even pay attention? And would Adam 'Pacman' Jones finally tap that light bulb on in his head, after an entire career of selfish disregard for his teammates or fellow players?
From this guy?
The answer, of course, is no. King is not wrong, but he's inherently insufferable to position this as an "open letter." He may sincerely believe he's going to spark a revolution in player safety in the NFL. It's more likely that it won't make any difference whatsoever.
I believe that the only way to convey a message of safety to the players is to deliver it with a former player. Even better, one that didn't play with regard to safety (read: most NFL players ever), and is now paying the price. Post it on the Players Tribune, a.k.a. the "Voice of the Game." Slap a suit on him and put him on Outside the Lines and Inside The NFL. Active players might listen at that point.
This "Scared Straight" approach may be the only way to smack some sense into the heads of guys like Burfict, who is too busy trying to knock some sense out of his opponents. Writers across the country were inevitably going to issue this kind of declaration to the NFL, and it needed to be said at some point. It's just not going to change anything coming from the same people who athletes routinely berate and dismiss.
King remains a prominent voice in football media. But when he talks about player safety, his plea will go unheard.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
