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Marquette King

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Marquette King
refer to caption
King with the Oakland Raiders in 2015
Personal information
Born: (1988-10-26) October 26, 1988 (age 36)
Macon, Georgia
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:192 lb (87 kg)
Career information
High school:Rutland (Macon, Georgia)
College:Fort Valley State
Position:Punter
Undrafted:2012
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 4, 2018
Punts:446
Punting yards:20,822
Average punt:46.7
Longest punt:72
Inside 20:163
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Marquette King Jr.[1] (born October 26, 1988) is an American football punter who is a free agent. He played college football at Fort Valley State and was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2012.[2] King led the NFL in punting yards in 2014.

Early life

King was born and raised in Macon, Georgia by his parents, Audrey and Marquette King Sr. He has a younger sister named Jasmine. He began punting in high school. As a child, he loved football and wanted to become a wide receiver. King practiced after his football practices at Rutland High School and asked teammates to join. After having his teammates decline his invitation, he decided to try punting during his free time, challenging himself to see how far he could kick. His high school coach soon learned of his ability and named him—in addition to his role as wide receiver—the team's punter.[3]

College career

King attended Fort Valley State University where he was originally recruited as a wide receiver. However, he could not find playing time at the position. During his junior year, when his new head coach learned that King practiced punting in his spare time, he threatened to revoke King's scholarship unless he focused on becoming a full-time punter.[4] King recounted this, and said "When [the coach] threatened to take my scholarship away from me to focus on being a punter I was like, 'All right, well, if you want to take my scholarship away from me, well, I'm [going to] find a way to make this position look fun.'"[5] In his senior year, King was an All-First Team Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member and the 2011 FVSU Wildcats Most Valuable Player. During the 2011 season, King punted 80 yards against Bethune-Cookman University. During the 2011 season, King led the SIAC Conference in punting with a 43 yards per punt average, with 21 punts landing inside his opponents' 20-yard-line. Sixteen of his punts yielded 50 yards or more. King competed in the first annual NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in 2012.

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

King alongside Dustin Hopkins in a 2017 game against the Washington Redskins

After going undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Oakland Raiders had King try out for the team. On April 29, 2012, the Oakland Raiders signed King to a three-year, $1.36 million contract.[6] In training camp, King took most of the punting snaps due to an earlier injury to veteran Shane Lechler. King impressed the coaches enough to be kept on the roster but was placed on injured reserve for the entire 2012 NFL season.[7]

With Lechler signing a free-agent contract with the Houston Texans, King competed for the Oakland Raiders punting job during the 2013 preseason with experienced veteran Chris Kluwe. King won the punting job, and Kluwe was cut at the conclusion of the preseason. During the 2013 season, King led the league in gross yards per punt, with 48.9.[8][9]

In 2014, King led the league in punting yards and total punts, with 4,930 on 109 punts.[10] These numbers also set single-season Oakland Raiders franchise records.[9]

On March 11, 2015, King signed a one-year, $1.54 million contract to remain with the Raiders. He was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 15.[11]

On February 29, 2016, the Raiders signed King to a five-year, $16.50 million extension with $12.50 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $250,000.[6][12] On September 23, 2016, King was fined $18,231 for a touchdown saving horse collar tackle on Eric Weems during a Week 2 game against the Atlanta Falcons.[13] During the 2016 season, King was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 7.[14]

During King's career, he became noted by sports media outlets for his attention-grabbing celebrations and dances following punts.[14][15]

On March 30, 2018, the Raiders released King.[16]

Denver Broncos

On April 5, 2018, the Denver Broncos signed King to a three-year contract worth $7 million.[17] He was placed on injured reserve on October 6, 2018, with a thigh injury. Two days later, the Broncos reached an injury settlement with King and he was released.[18]

St. Louis Battlehawks

King was selected by the St. Louis Battlehawks in the 2020 XFL Supplemental Draft on November 22, 2019.[19] He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.[20]

Career statistics

Led the league
General Punting
Season Team GP Punts Yards Y/P Net In20 TB
2012 Oakland 0 Did not play due to injury
2013 Oakland 16 84 4,107 48.9 40.1 66 2
2014 Oakland 16 109 4,930 45.2 40.0 62 0
2015 Oakland 16 83 3,697 44.5 40.7 70 1
2016 Oakland 16 81 3,937 48.6 41.4 72 0
2017 Oakland 16 69 3,270 47.4 42.7 65 0
2018 Denver 4 20 881 44.1 39.7 66 0
Career 84 446 20,822 46.7 41.1 72 3
Sources:[21][22]

References

  1. ^ Sperber, Jeff (April 19, 2012). "NFL Prospect Marquette King Interview: A New Breed of Punter". www.footballnation.com. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  2. ^ "Oakland Raiders: Marquette King". Oakland Raiders. Archived from the original on December 6, 2013. Retrieved January 10, 2013.
  3. ^ Jeff Sperber (April 19, 2012). "NFL Prospect: Marquette King: A new breed of punter". footballnation.com. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  4. ^ Wallace, Carvell (February 5, 2016). "Marquette King Is the N.F.L.'s Only Black Punter. How Come?". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  5. ^ Johnson, Kayla (January 7, 2017). "Marquette King is never going to be 'normal'". The Undefeated. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Spotrac.com: Marquette King contract". spotrac.com. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  7. ^ Culbertson, Bret. "NFL Young Guns: The Marquette King Story". Kohl's News. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  8. ^ "2013 NFL Leaders and Leaderboards". Pro-Football-Reference. Sports-Reference. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Raiders sign P Marquette King to long-term contract extension". NBC Sports Bay Area. NBC. February 29, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  10. ^ "2014 NFL Leaders and Leaderboards". Pro-Football-Reference. Sports-Reference. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  11. ^ "Raiders P Marquette King Wins AFC Special Teams Player of the Week". Raiders.com. December 30, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  12. ^ Hanzus, Dan (February 29, 2016). "Marquette King inks long-term extension with Raiders". NFL.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  13. ^ Reed, Jesse. "Raiders P Marquette King fined over $18K for horse collar tackle". Sportsnaut. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  14. ^ a b Lyles Jr., Harry (December 8, 2016). "Marquette King is more than the NFL's most fun punter". SB Nation. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  15. ^ Bodner, Brett. "Raiders punter Marquette King shows off incredible dance moves". NY Daily News. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  16. ^ Sessler, Marc (March 30, 2018). "Oakland Raiders part ways with punter Marquette King". NFL.com.
  17. ^ DiLalla, Aric (April 5, 2018). "Broncos agree to terms with punter Marquette King on three-year contract". DenverBroncos.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  18. ^ Bergman, Jeremy (October 6, 2018). "Broncos place King on IR, will release when healthy". NFL.com.
  19. ^ "Ex-Broncos punter Marquette King lands in XFL". Broncos Wire. November 26, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  20. ^ Condotta, Bob (April 10, 2020). "XFL suspends operations, terminates all employees, but Jim Zorn says he has hopes league will continue". SeattleTimes.com. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  21. ^ "Marquette King Stats". ESPN. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  22. ^ "Marquette King Stats". Pro-Football-Reference. Sports-Reference. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
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