Peter King Defends His Remarks on Bernie Kosar; Refuses to Apologize

I was waiting this morning to see if Sports Illustrated's Peter King would do the right thing and apologize for the comments he wrongly made about Cleveland Browns color commentator Bernie Kosar a couple of days ago. Instead, King showed no dignity by acknowledging the criticism he received, but still defending his original take (and insinuating again about potential alcohol problems). Then, the icing on the cake is that he justified his take because of Kosar being forced to apologize to the Rams organization. Ugh. Here is what King said verbatim in his column this morning:

Bernie Kosar, doing color on the Browns preseason game against St. Louis Thursday, had some harsh things to say about the Rams. He called the Rams receivers, including the eighth pick in the 2013 draft, Tavon Austin, "horrible," said their parents "would be embarrassed" if they were watching the game, and, about backup quarterback Kellen Clemens, said, "Bless me Father for I have sinned. I have to watch him the whole fourth quarter."

Kosar’s a good guy, and I have always liked him. But I found the comments pretty far over the top and asked rhetorically, on Twitter, whether Kosar had been drinking. Which brought on a raft of criticism from the Twitterverse, saying I’d gone over the top. I don’t think I was over the top, but many of you felt I’d gone too far given the sea of trouble Kosar has had in his personal life. (None of which, from what I can tell, involve treatment for alcohol, or any admission of alcoholism.) My point was, I think there’s a way to be critical of players and teams, and analysts should definitely do that. But Kosar went too far, in my opinion. And not just mine. Kosar called Rams coach Jeff Fisher Sunday to apologize, and Browns CEO Joe Banner said Sunday the Browns "don’t condone the personal and unprofessional approach" Kosar used.

King also failed to disclose the fact that he shares an agent with Fisher and has ties to the Rams organization. He also did not disclose the fact that he did not actually listen to Kosar's comments in context, and is just responding to what he heard from Fisher and then spinning it in his own way to create some buzz at Kosar's expense. (Aside: yes, I am making assumptions about what King actually listened to. But for those who actually listened, there was nothing wrong with what Kosar said).

@SI_PeterKing concludes he didn't need to apologize for attacking Kosar's past, & he was right b/c Kosar was forced to apologize? Asshole

— Dawgs By Nature (@DawgsByNature) August 12, 2013

Feel free to let King know how you feel in the comments section of his MMQB column, or continue letting him know on Twitter.