Peter King tees off on Bill Belichick's book tour

As NFL media goes, few are more respected and admired than Peter King. He retired last year, but he retains a part-time presence in the broader pro football ecosystem.

And when he speaks, people listen.

Peter had something to say about Bill Belichick's recent CBS interview, conducted as part of an effort to get people to buy his new book.

Appearing on the Sports Media with Richard Deitsch podcast, King pulled not a single punch.

By way of background, Belichick got pissed at King and basically froze him out because King had the nerve to tell the truth about the Spygate controversy in 2007. Now, King is telling the truth — as he sees it — about Belichick's book tour.

“This is a guy who owned every room he ever walked into and now he’s got a 24-year-old muse telling him what to do or trying to control situations that quite frankly she has nothing to do with or should have nothing to do with," King told Deitsch, via AwfulAnnouncing.com. "Bill’s got to get a hold of himself here. He’s got to get a hold of this situation. This is embarrassing. It’s totally embarrassing for a guy who’s as great at his job as he is."

King specifically had an issue with the manner in which Belichick presented himself for the interview with CBS.

“Bill Belichick, to promote a book, goes on Sunday morning television for however long it was, say 10 minutes, but goes on Sunday morning television with a sweatshirt on with a hole in it,” King said. “Look at the video of it. He’s got a Navy sweatshirt on that has a hole in it. . . . Why does TMZ have him walking out of the Ritz-Carlton hotel I think in New York in a perfectly tailored blue suit. Why? Where's he going? And why is he on a national TV show looking like he’s going to a press conference in Foxboro on no sleep and then he walks out of a hotel going wherever he’s going. . . . That was a terrible look in the first place. . . .

"But in general, if you're going to be promoting a book or you're going to be doing interviews, you can't be the sullen, disinterested person that Bill Belichick was for CBS. You just shouldn't do it then. Why do it?"

So what impact does King think that juxtaposition would have on potential buyers of Belichick's book?

“Anyone who watched that piece, anyone, look I’m just saying for me, if I’m watching that I’m not buying this idiot’s book," King said. "'Why would I buy this guy? I hate this guy.' That is going to be the impression I get.”

That speaks to the biggest problem with Belichick bringing a grizzled football coach's attitude to a book tour. It's one thing to be secretive to the point of useless to the media when he's trying to enhance his team's ability to win football games. It's quite another to treat the media like the enemy at a time when the media is his friend, when it comes to selling a product.

Books are everywhere. New ones come out all the time. People first have to be made aware of the book, and then they have to be persuaded to buy it.

For Belichick the NFL coach, the media needs him far more than he needs the media. For Belichick the author, he needs the media far more than the media needs him. And he had no one who could explain that to him in a way that got his attention.

That makes sense. He wasn't relying on a P.R. professional to handle the publicity. He was relying on someone who was in high school when he won his most recent postseason game.

As demonstrated by the email she posted (for some reason) on social media earlier this week, he was being unreasonably combative and illogically pigheaded about what it means to publicize and sell books. Everything about that CBS interview reflected Belichick's attitude from when he was collecting checks from the Patriots, not from when he was collecting checks from media outlets — and not when trying to attract readers to part ways with their money. (Especially at a time when, instead of buying 30 books, they might be able to buy only two.)

It's unclear whether and to what extent any of the past week's misadventures will keep people from buying Belichick's book. Far more people know about it today than did a week ago. If a large percentage of them reacted the way King did, they won't be rushing to add a $35 hard copy of it to their bookshelves.