TeenSpeak Goes One on One with Sports Illustrated's Peter King

by Jordan Mamorsky

Even at the tender age of 10, Peter King was making a profit from journalism. Between 5th and 6th grades, Peter created a neighborhood newspaper with his friend Bill Miller. The newspaper consisted of interviews with neighbors and features on local events. Thrilled with her son's creation, as most parents are, Mrs. King was quick to help out. Peter's mom typed the newspaper on carbon paper and then the boys sold it to the neighbors.

Becoming a journalist was probably always in Peter King's cards. Sundays were marked with a special outing for Peter and his father, who wasn't a journalist, but rather an iron worker. They lived in Enfield, Connecticut, just outside of Hartford, and every Sunday, they would go to the store and collect all of the regional newspapers to read together when they got home. "It was just the way my dad liked to relax, reading about what was going on in sports and the world," King told me. He also confessed that from reading all about sports, he developed "this burning desire to be a left fielder for the Boston Red Socks. I was a big fan. I soon found out that wasn't going to happen. I thought if I couldn't play for the Red Socks, maybe I could write about them."

When King was in high school, he wrote for his high school newspaper and was also a correspondent for The Hartford Courant. He realized this was a dream he could achieve and excel in. Today, he is a world renowned journalist for Sports Illustrated where he has a weekly column called, Inside the NFL and he also does feature articles on the National Football League. King prides himself on having a personal relationship with NFL players, and attributes this, in part, to his success. What follows is my interview with Mr. King in its entirety.