Peter King was a quote machine Monday as a guest on the “John Keim Report.”
Here are a few excerpts from part one. Listen here for the entire interview.
King talked of how he began covering the NFC East in 1985. He remembers vividly those trips to RFK Stadium, saying they were some of his best memories of how the fervor of those days for the team was so different than it is today.
“When there were big moments in the fourth quarter in big games, the stadium would shake. It would reverberate and we would be up in the press box, which was a little microscopic press box really, and the first time I ever experienced it happen, I thought the stadium was going to collapse.”
“I just remember that every game I ever covered there I recall the day of the game devouring every word of the Washington Post, getting ready for the game. Often times I would take a cab, get a ride and as I was walking the last few hundred yards to the stadium, one thing that always stuck out to me was how important this was to everyone there.”
“I think one of the reasons I have been so down on Daniel Snyder, and I’m not saying he alone ruined that, but far and away he is the biggest contributor to ruining what happened to a once-great, cornerstone NFL franchise.”
“I am not trying to throw darts at anybody. Anyone can look at this, it is just a fact. His reign of ownership has been an abject disaster. If he had one shred of decency, he would say, ‘If I really loved this team and this town, for the good of the people who live here, who love this team, I’ve got to sell this team, and we’ve got to move on’.”
“Even though everything that has happened in the organization amounts to a scandal, I am not sure it rises to the level of getting the franchise stripped from him (Snyder). So I think most owners are pragmatic about it until something more happens than what has surfaced to this point.”
“I would be surprised if Snyder showed up (before the Congressional Committee) without a subpoena. Can you imagine if they start berating Daniel Snyder? He will fight back and his attorney has to be thinking, ‘There is no way I am allowing my client to appear before Congress to get the crap beat out of him’.”
“Think of what Roger Goodell would be thinking, “I have to take a day out of my life, go to Washington get prepared from our attorneys to appear before Congress, in what will be on every channel in Washington and will be a huge story on ESPN, and I have to do that because of Daniel Snyder.”
“I don’t root for any team per se. I just don’t like it if any team has been horrible forever. So like this year, I would love to see the Lions get things turned around, their poor fans have suffered. I never in a million years thought I would say the same thing about Washington. That is almost the way I feel about them now.”