Derrick Brooks did a huge favor for Peter King of SI.com. To repay Brooks, King stabbed him in the back.

It’s really nice when a player of the status of Derrick Brooks takes time out of his busy day of preparation to sit down with a member of the fourth estate to teach a reporter some insightful, inside information on how he and the Bucs defense were able to shut down possibly the best offensive player in the NFL.

So Joe considers it a gross slap in the face for a reporter to turn right around and spill the beans to said offensive player after being afforded such a favor from Brooks and the Bucs. But that’s exactly what SI.com’s Peter King did.

Recently, Brooks sat down with King in the Bucs film room, as King detailed in his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback column. Brooks broke down the scheme the Bucs used to stop Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. So how does King thank Brooks and the Bucs? King turns right around and calls Peterson to let him in on the secret.

Brooks and the Bucs did a good job on Peterson, and when I called Peterson Wednesday to explain the Tampa Bay defensive plan for stopping him, he was pretty forthcoming. In the story, I explain how Brooks and the Bucs tried to throw a front-seven net around Peterson on every logical rushing down, because the times he gashes a defense are usually the times he gets a hole — even if for a split second — to break a big one. It’s more complicated than that, but this was Peterson’s reaction: “They played me right. They did a great job staying true to their gaps. Good strategy. That’s what it’s all about [against me].”

Maybe Joe is overreacting a bit, but Joe thinks it’s outrageous for King to immediately call Peterson to let him know how Brooks and Bucs stopped him. Sure Peterson and the Vikings can see what happened on the tape. But why help them?

Think about it: It’s not out of the question the Bucs could be playing the Vikings and Peterson again in the playoffs. Obviously, Joe is not privy to any agreements King and the Bucs may have made prior to the private film session. But Joe thinks it’s more than a bit shady for King to blab to Peterson how the Bucs came up with this scheme and how they executed it.

One thing is for sure: To prevent King from ratting out Monte Kiffin, Brooks and the Bucs again, pull his credentials and keep him out of One Buc Palace.

At least until after the Super Bowl.