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Profootballtalk.com acquired by NBC

The website -- visited regularly by NFL fans, media and league insiders -- has been a small operation with a big-time influence.

June 15, 2009|Sam Farmer

"I've had cases that have dealt with those very issues," he said. "So at those times, having a law background has been very helpful. . . . [But] I used to feel horribly inadequate because I had zero journalism training."

After earning a degree in engineering from Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, Florio went to law school and worked at two firms before hanging his own shingle. Along the way, he wrote a football-based novel that he had trouble getting anyone to publish. Eventually, he wound up writing NFL stories and observations for various websites, usually for free. That led to him forming PFT in 2001, and since 2007 he has worked with business partner Larry Mazza, all the while continuing to practice law.


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Almost a decade later, he has an arrangement with NBC substantial enough that he is giving up his legal practice for good, a decision he admits "has been the source of a lot of worrying and fretting by me because I love practicing law."

Florio's new fear is that writing for his site, which never felt like actual work to him before, might start feeling that way. Then again, he quipped, maybe that's how it should be.

"I come from the land of coal mining and steel mills," he said. "You're supposed to hate your job."

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sam.farmer@latimes.com

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