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Pete Prisco was born on Long Island, which might be part of the reason he has
that New York mentality as a reporter: right to the point. After living for a
time outside of Philadelphia, where his first NFL game was the Eagles and
Steelers at old Franklin Field, Prisco moved south with his family and spent
his high school years in the warmth of South Florida.
It was there that he realized that he wanted to become a sportswriter, but he
also happened to be on his high school football team. That means he sometimes
had the audacity to actually put his own name in his story after the coach
praised his play. Tells you something about him, doesn't it?
The reality that 5-foot-6 guards don't make it in college football forced him to
attend Arizona State University, where working on the school paper and
questioning coaches became one his favorite things to do.
Upon graduation, Prisco bounced around the country working in various capacities
for several newspapers. It was while working for the Tulsa Tribune that he
infuriated then-Tulsa basketball coach Nolan Richardson, which led to
Richardson and his assistants mocking him during a press conference.
"Prisco, disco, cisco,'' Richardson said as he pointed at Prisco.
The fans didn't like it, either. He received threats on his phone from angry
fans telling him to go back to New York.
He didn't go back to New York, but eventually found his way back to
Jacksonville where he covered the University of Florida, and then the NFL.
When the Jaguars came to town, he was the first beat writer covering that
team at the Florida Times-Union. It was then that he built a warm and fuzzy
relationship with Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin (yeah, right).
In November 2000, Prisco joined CBSSports.com as a senior writer covering Florida
and the NFL. He is married to wife, Casey, and they have two cats, one named Maggie and the other Mookie after NBA player Mookie Blaylock. Mookie, though, is more like
J.R. Rider -- crazy as a cat.
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