Peter King criticizes Hakeem Nicks, should learn NFL rules first

NFL reporter Peter King criticized Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Hakeem Nicks for going out of bounds late in the Colts’ win over the Bengals Sunday, but King actually owes the receiver an apology.

Nicks caught a 2nd-and-13 pass from Andrew Luck and took it to the Bengals 40 with 5:13 left in the game. Indy was up 26-10 at that point and just needed to run the clock out, leading King to criticize Nicks for going out of bounds.

Here’s the tweet King sent:

Way to go out of bounds, Hakeem Nicks. That football intelligence is sure to increase your value in free-agency.

— Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) January 4, 2015

The irony is that it’s King’s football intelligence that is lacking.

Despite the common belief that the clock stops when a player goes out of bounds, that is not the case. The clock only stops when a player goes out of bounds in the last two minutes of the first half and last five minutes of the second half.

Via NFL.com’s rules explanations:

With the exception of the last two minutes of the first half and the last five minutes of the second half, the game clock will be restarted following a kickoff return, a player going out of bounds on a play from scrimmage, or after declined penalties when appropriate on the referee’s signal.

Since Nicks went out of bounds with 5:13 left, the clock kept running just as if he were tackled inbounds. So Nicks was the smart one for avoiding the contact, while King showed his ignorance towards the rules. An apology is certainly in order.