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Much respect to Peter King for doing what he’s done as an NFL writer for as long as he has. No B.S., the guy helped bring serious access to the sport and helped fans like you and me get closer to our favorite players. For that, the 63-year-old deserves serious kudos.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, as King has gotten older he’s become a bit of a troll when it comes to doing his duties as a fair and bias member of the media. Whether it’s his intent or not, we’ve seen the dude refuse to vote for deserving players for All-Pro teams — like Antonio Brown a few years ago — questionably say comments that upset plenty of people, and fired back at people on social media for laughing at an image of Bill Belichick looking like a homeless person.
Sure, Peter King’s obviously got the right to voice his opinions, but, damn, can’t the guy just try to avoid being so… annoying? It’s like he swims against the current just to get a reaction these days.
Well, King was at it again on Friday when he openly talked about giving Buffalo Bills wideout Cole Beasley a vote for the NFL All-Pro Team, stating that, because the pint-sized receiver is, in the writer’s mind, the best slot receiver in the league right now, he warranted a vote. Here’s what King had to say to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk about his decision on Beasley.
Per The Spun:
“Cole Beasley is the slot receiver on my All-Pro team this year,” King said. “This year the Associated Press asked voters to vote for three wide receivers. They didn’t put any limit, any restrictions on how you vote for them and look I probably would have voted as my third receiver for somebody like Tyreek Hill, but I like to put my votes for players as if I was going to play a game and so I want a slot receiver on my team. And Cole Beasley led all NFL slot receivers in yardage this year and he was the most effective, efficient receiver in that ping-pong ball type area.”
Yes, Beasley had a solid year. Yes, he probably deserves a Pro Bowl nod. But by voting Beasley an All-Pro — which led to a Third-Team nod — Peter King overlooked plenty of other viable options… and people on Twitter were pissed about it. Just look below at some of the reactions on social media after people found out King voted as if he were actually playing guys in their natural positions.
Eight receivers got All-Pro votes and Evans wasn't one of them. Cole Beasley got a vote. Let's compare:
Evans: 70 catches, 1,006 yards, 13 TDs
Beasley: 82 catches, 967 yards, 4 TDs https://t.co/gFSsjPvbei— Greg Auman (@gregauman) January 8, 2021
Let me get this straight.#Bears WR Allen Robinson: 102 catches, 1,250 yards, 6 TD, 5 broken tackles, 68 first downs
Second-team All-Pro Cole Beasley: 82 catches, 967 yards, 4 TD, 1 broken tackle, 53 first downs
What?!?
— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) January 8, 2021
(Also, Peter King’s thinking that your All Pro team should look like a real team and include a slot guy makes sense to me. It’s part of why I mentioned Beasley in that flex spot they had last year, and why this All Pro structure struggles to reflect how teams are built.)
— Robert Mays (@robertmays) January 8, 2021
Twas Peter King. His rationale was that All-Pro should reflect a "real" team so the 3rd WR should be like a slot thus choosing Beasley.
— Soren (@grandall2107) January 8, 2021
Peter king voted for beasley he said it this morning. He said the best slot receiver should get a vote
— Kevin Miller (@packerkev) January 8, 2021
https://twitter.com/MarcusPapas/status/1347616468096196608?s=20
Wait… what?!? Peter King’s rationale here is insane. It’s like playing a pickup hoops game and choosing a shorter guy to play point guard over a big man because you already have three of them. It doesn’t make much sense. Like, at all. It’s just too bad King didn’t reveal the other players he listed on his NFL All-Pro teams, because it would’ve been nice to hear if he F’ed up any other positions.
In the grand scheme of things, individual accolades don’t matter much. However, players have these types of incentives written into their contracts, so maybe Beasley can buy King a nice dinner for helping him snag an All-Pro nod, while guys like Tyreke Hill and Mike Evans can not-so-subtly trash the longtime writer, because both seem to be far more deserving than the Bills wideout; despite Beasley’s solid season.