Marquette King Jr. (born October 26, 1988) is an American football punter for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Fort Valley State and was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2012. King is the only current African-American punter in the NFL and is only the fifth African-American to exclusively play punter in the NFL. King led the NFL in punting yards in 2014.
Video Marquette King
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.
Maps Marquette King
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. 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.'" 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
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. 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.
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.
In 2014, King led the league in punting yards and total punts, with 4,930 on 109 punts. These numbers also set single-season Oakland Raiders franchise records.
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.
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. 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. During the 2016 season, King was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week in Week 7.
During King's career, he became noted by sports media outlets for his sultry on-field celebrations and dances following punts.
On March 30, 2018, the Raiders released King in an unexpected and surprising move.
Denver Broncos
On April 5, 2018, the Denver Broncos signed King to a three-year contract worth $7 million.
Career statistics
References
External links
- Oakland Raiders biography
- Marquette King on Twitter
Source of article : Wikipedia
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