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The football media fraternity is set to lose one of its most iconic contributors.

The legendary Peter King has announced this Monday that he is retiring after a career spanning over 40 years.

King, popular for his ‘Football Morning In America’ NBC column, let the nation know he will be stepping away in said piece to start the week.

“Who’s complaining? Not me. I’m the luckiest man on the face of the earth,” he wrote. “To be a long-termer in an increasingly short-term business, to write this column for 27 years and to be a sportswriter for 44, well, that’s something I’ll always be grateful for. Truly, I’ve loved it all.”

King has been named National Sportswriter of the Year on three occasions and is one of the main persons involved in selecting players for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has also covered the last 40 Super Bowls.

The 66-year-old started at the Cincinnati Enquirer and Newsday in the 80s. He joined Sports Illustrated in 1989, where he would rise to prominence as one of the NFL’s most notable reporters as his ‘Monday Morning Quarterback’ column became a staple for football fans.

He started working with NBC in 2006 and became a regular on the network’s ‘Football Night In America, which later became the aforementioned ‘Football Morning In America’ when he left SI to join NBC full-time.

King, who revealed he began mulling over retirement after last season, says he hopes his departure will allow younger reporters to come to the fore. He didn’t rule out remaining in the media in some capacity but is leaving the full-time job of covering the league.

TotalProSports would like to wish King a happy retirement following decades of admirable work.