An open letter to Peter King

Dear Peter,

I’ve known your body of work, in some capacity, for about 15 years. A former subscriber to Sports Illustrated, I actually enjoyed your commentary on various subjects while watching SI’s “Year In Sports” in both 1993 and 1994. Watching “Inside The NFL” off and on for a few years, it was clear that you have a rather extensive knowledge of the game of football, which is one of the reasons I read your Monday Morning Quarterback column each week.

For the past year or so, however, I’ve found your opinion rather predictable. You flock to certain teams -- Cowboys, Patriots, Steelers -- and certain players -- Romo, Favre, both Mannings -- with such consistency that it’s more surprising not to read about them than it is to read about someone else. As a professional writer for a national publication, your views should be, for the most part, unbiased.

With that having been said, I’d like to mention two things that have bothered me recently.

First, with regards to your “Fine Fifteen,” it’s beginning to seem as though your rankings have little to do with the outcome of games but rather how you feel about teams in general (which, admittedly, should factor into it).

For example, after the Redskins beat the Cowboys in Week 3, you immediately ranked them higher, which is completely understandable. The following week, however, the Redskins beat the Eagles (on the road) and Dallas barely beat Cincinnati (at home), yet you somehow decided that the Cowboys were once again the better team. You explained your position after receiving a ton of e-mails (which, let’s be honest, you had to expect), but only by saying something along the lines of -- and I’m paraphrasing here -- “I am more comfortable with Dallas in general than I am with Washington.”

Now fast forward four weeks. Dallas is out of the picture in terms of comparisons, having dropped 3 of their last 4. However, you have teams like Buffalo (who just lost, at home, to Miami) catapulting a few spots to number 5, while the Redskins (who just won in Detroit) drop once again despite winning for the sixth time in 7 weeks. Cleveland has some issues, but they beat the Giants and the Jaguars on either side of losing to the Skins, so it took some work for Washington to get the W at home last week.

Carolina got completely embarrassed two weeks ago by Tampa, bounced back against New Orleans and Arizona (both teams the Redskins beat), but somehow sit at Number 4 overall, despite having the same record as Washington. Pittsburgh is resting comfortably in the third spot, despite losing to the Giants and despite being led by a shaky quarterback who just threw 4 interceptions and has been sacked a billion times so far this season.

It just doesn’t make sense.

Second, I’d like to address a point you made in today’s column. In your “Ten Things I Think I Think” -- which is the dumbest header in history, by the way -- you said the following:

I know you love Clinton Portis, Jim Zorn. And you should. But that little tete-a-tete on the sidelines in Detroit with Mr. Portis should tell you that you're dealing with what Tom Coughlin has dealt with over the last three years with Plaxico Burress. High-maintenance guys. But great players. You've got to make peace and move on.

Wait... back up a minute. Did you seriously just compare Clinton Portis to Plaxico Burress? Let’s look at these two players from a “high-maintenance” perspective:

Plaxico Burress has been fined “40 or 50 times” by the Giants organization since being traded from Pittsburgh in 2005, mostly for skipping team meetings and essentially ignoring some of the higher-up personnel in New York. Police in New Jersey have reportedly been called to his house on more than one occasion in response to domestic abuse charges. He came out after being suspended by the team a couple of weeks ago and basically told the media that he didn’t care what the team thought and that, basically, he moved on and so should they.

Burress, though an incredible receiver, is a serious locker room issue. He has been for years and continues to be. When teammates were asked about his suspension earlier this year, a few came right out and said that they didn’t really care when he came back.

Clinton Portis, on the other hand, has only been fined by the NFL for not wearing league-issued socks. He has been vocal in the past, but I think most would agree that his speech has often been out of frustration with himself and with injuries than out of disrespect to the Redskins organization. He likes to have fun and is very emotional, but to equate those two traits to being “high-maintenance” makes me think that you aren’t quite sure what that phrase means exactly.

Sure, Portis has publicly acknowledged in the past that he does not like to practice. Given his production this year, however, I think his case is a pretty valid one. When healthy, he is one of the premiere backs in the NFL, an irreplaceable component in any offense and one of the biggest -- if not the biggest -- reasons the Redskins are 6-2.

Comparing an emotional player after one outburst to someone who has had “me first” written on his sleeve for years is not only absurd, it’s also unfair to Number 26.

After yesterday’s game, it was revealed that the “tete-a-tete” between Portis and Zorn was little more than miscommunication. That’s a far cry from admitting that his team comes second, wouldn’t you say?

Please, Mr. King, know all the facts before you write something so scathing, and please, start to factor in more than your loyalties when giving the public your opinion.

Sincerely,

MWP