Renowned Sports Journalist Peter King Gains MVP Status In CT Hometown

ENFIELD, CT — So much of what is right about America was revealed at the Enfield High School auditorium Thursday evening when recently retired sportswriter and NBC sportscaster Peter King returned to his alma mater as part of a grass roots campaign to raise funds for local school sports.

Within months after the Board of Education voted to slash seven million dollars that would have funded grades six to nine sports for the current school year, a team of two former EHS basketball all-stars, 1967 graduate Russ Tyler and 1974 graduate Paul DaSilva, along with their retired coach, Bob Bromage, ventured on a “Save Our Sports” plan that would assure future programs.

Along with setting up a GoFundMe campaign, the local men gave their long-time friend Peter a call. What caused the writer of Sports Illustrated’s weekly “Monday Morning Quarterback” column to dig into the initiative? According to Tyler, two things: “His heart which has never departed Enfield. . . and his dedication to getting 279 young people back to playing interscholastic sports.”

Rather than gripe about the slashed sports budget, the now four-man team entered the fray with a conciliatory bent. Early on King told Patch reporter Tim Jensen, “In no way would I ever be critical of the school board for cutting these sports. I understand it's crisis mode, I get it, but when Russ, Paul, and Bob phoned . . . I said I’d do everything humanly possible.”

According to the Patch, King reached out to NFL contacts. One good friend of the Baltimore Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta gifted the cause with a generous check. Others followed. King also referred to an anonymous donation of $25,000 during a Rob Dibble Fox Sports interview in October.

By the time “A Night With Peter King” opened its doors to the general public on November 7, the “Save Our Sports” initiative had raised over $125,000, an amount the Enfield School Board assures will cover reinstating the sports program through the 2026 fiscal year. But the program promoted something worth even more than money as introductions were made, Peter spoke, and questions from the audience were taken. There was a multigenerational feel to the room. In many a row grandparents, parents, and children sat together mesmerized by the well-told tales of the town’s most famous writer – a writer who has been named National Sports Writer of the Year three times in his career.

Of course he was asked about his favorite interview, to which he granted Green Bay Packer Brett Favre the honor. And when a youngster repeated the question later in the program, instead of saying he had already named Favre, King replied, “Let me tell about the most inspiring."He went on to tell the rags-to-riches story of Minnesota Viking John Randle who grew up in a home without a bathroom and went on to be considered one of the greatest and highest paid undrafted players of all time.

All in all, the Enfield “Save Our Sports” night with King could have been the subject of a Norman Rockwell painting. A cross-generational community came together to solve a political issue, no one blamed or shamed another, and yes, the sports program will be restored in King’s hometown.

Tyler, who hosted the program, got it right when he reminded the audience that although Thomas Wolfe wrote a masterpiece entitled You Can’t Go Home Again, the author “didn’t have a clue about what makes Peter King tick.” The night ended with a standing ovation for King, the crowd hailing him “MVP. . . MVP. . . MVP,” an accolade the nationally honored sports writer could only be bequeathed at home.

Laura Baione Hayden is a freelance writer who has written for many Connecticut publications, Crain’s Business Newsletter, and the Seven Ponds end-of-life blog. Staying Alive: A Love Story, her memoir of loss and recovery, is available on amazon.