Peter King Asked A Veteran How Many People He’s Killed And People Are Pissed

When NFL writer extraordinaire Peter King is not eloquently reporting on the biggest stories in football, he is stepping on every goddamn trap door and thumbtack available on Twitter.

His past gaffes are numerous. And well documented.

Honestly, he was doing pretty good at keeping his foot out of his mouth for awhile.

Until today.

This is in reference King’s Monday Morning Quarterback story on 34-year-old long snapping prospect Nate Boyer, who served as a Green Beret.

“How many people did you kill?” I asked.

“I am not going to answer that,” Boyer said, after a pause. “I honestly don’t know. I can tell you I am no Chris Kyle. But you don’t really know because—well, you are in these battles, and you come back, and, last year, we had one firefight with 30 enemy KIA [killed in action], and you never know for sure who got who.”

Ouch.

But let’s be real for a second. As fun as it is to needle King for his occasional missteps, let’s not lose sight of the fact he wrote a great story about Boyer. The world may not have known his story without King. And, as a journalist, the details of Boyer’s past are germane to the piece.

I hate to be the guy patching up America’s punching bag with duct tape, but let’s have some perspective here.

King has done much worse.

Say what you want about him, but he’s one of the best damn Twitter follows around. Always keeps you on your toes with his highwire balancing act.