{"id":305198,"date":"2025-11-21T13:22:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T13:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/305198\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T13:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T13:22:09","slug":"marquette-king-was-one-of-the-nfls-best-punters-then-he-was-gone-im-definitely-blackballed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/305198\/","title":{"rendered":"Marquette King was one of the NFL\u2019s best punters, then he was gone: \u2018I\u2019m definitely blackballed\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2013 Marquette King boomed punts downfield, then celebrated with moves tailored to his opposition, carving out a distinct persona at a position known for anonymity.<\/p>\n

That persona may also be the reason he has spent the last several years out of the NFL.<\/p>\n

In 2012, King signed with the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent out of Fort Valley (Ga.) State, and after impressing during the preseason while playing in place of injured veteran Shane Lechler, spent his first year stashed on injured reserve. When King won the job in 2013, he became just the fifth Black punter in NFL history.<\/p>\n

From then on, he shone on one of the NFL\u2019s glamour franchises \u2014 and a franchise known for rostering players who went against the grain \u2014 in a city with deep-rooted Black history.<\/p>\n

King\u2019s cousin, Greg Rhymes, who grew up with King in Macon, Ga., would attend games and think to himself, \u201cThat\u2019s my family right there.\u201d He\u2019d take photos with fans wearing King\u2019s No. 7 jersey and share them with his cousin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was all cool,\u201d Rhymes said. \u201cThe more famous he got, I actually started to see a lot of people wearing them.\u201d<\/p>\n

There weren\u2019t many better fits for a stylish, exuberant Black punter from a Historically Black College than Oakland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Marshawn Lynch was a punter, that would be Marquette King,\u201d said Ameer Loggins, an Oakland-area native and a doctoral candidate in the African American Studies department at Cal Berkeley. \u201cThat kind of energy resonated with folks in Oakland. And the way in which (King) acted out his Blackness on the field, it was able to make the punter look like a football player, as opposed to a specialist that happens to be in a football uniform.\u201d<\/p>\n

King loved being a Raider. He has the team\u2019s logo tattooed on his leg. He spent his first five seasons playing alongside kicker Sebastian Janikowski, a Raider for 17 years, and succeeded Lechler, who donned silver and black for 13 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that was going to be me,\u201d King said over lunch on a rainy afternoon at the Arizona Biltmore hotel.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t care that there was an NFL game in nearby Glendale the night before. He doesn\u2019t regularly watch games or follow much of what\u2019s going on. After all, the league left him behind years ago<\/p>\n

A second-team All-Pro selection in 2016, King was one of football\u2019s best punters for a half-decade, leading the league in punt average in 2013 and in punt yards in 2014. But at a position where many play into their mid-to-late 30s \u2014 six players 34 or older have punted for NFL teams in 2025 \u2014 King played his last game at 29. And he thinks he knows why.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m definitely blackballed,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m definitely better than over half the punters still playing. That\u2019s just what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

After King twice pinned the Denver Broncos inside their own 3-yard line in a 30-20 Raiders win in November 2016, he got a call from Deion Sanders. Then working as an analyst for NFL Media, the Hall of Fame cornerback and future coach dialed up the punter for a postgame segment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t just like your punting ability,\u201d Sanders told King. \u201cWe like the flavor that you bring to the table when you punt the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

That flavor came in many forms. A 2017 NFL Films segment declared King had \u201cthe personality to match his proficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a punter,\u201d he told NFL Films. \u201cI\u2019m an athlete who punts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Punting provided an outlet for expression. He was active on social media and even more active on the field after a successful leg swing. He mimicked Ray Lewis\u2019 celebration against the Baltimore Ravens and hit the dab against Cam Newton\u2019s Carolina Panthers. He went for a horseback ride against the Broncos and performed Shawne Merriman\u2019s \u201cLights Out\u201d sack dance against the Chargers.<\/p>\n

Punters don\u2019t typically ink deals with Nike, Amazon and Facebook. But at a time when players were just beginning to understand their ability to profit from their name and likeness, King was a pioneer on social media, his former agent, Wynn Silberman, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of a sudden, these deals started running across our desk,\u201d Silberman said.<\/p>\n

Jack Del Rio, the Raiders\u2019 head coach from 2015 to \u201917, saw King as a passionate kicker who played with an edge. His only gripe came when King incurred personal foul penalties that hurt the team. King was fined three times for unsportsmanlike conduct: once for a horse-collar tackle, another time for using a penalty flag as a prop<\/a>, and again for throwing the ball at an opponent<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI talked with him myself about needing to be in charge of emotions,\u201d Del Rio said. \u201cIt was something that was coached on and we talked about. I was one that was in his corner. There was so much talent there. I believed that we could channel that, but I know patience ran out once I wasn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n

King signed a five-year, $16.5 million contract with Oakland in February 2016, seemingly cementing his place in the Raiders\u2019 long-term plans. \u201cHe\u2019s someone who developed for us and gave us a real weapon,\u201d Del Rio said.<\/p>\n

But after Del Rio was fired following the 2017 season, things changed quickly. Jon Gruden returned to Oakland after leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory ahead of a nine-year stint on \u201cMonday Night Football.\u201d Shortly after the hiring, King appeared on NFL Network \u2014 wearing a crown and robe while holding a scepter<\/a>\u2014 and jokingly referred to his new coach as \u201cthe guy from \u2018Monday Night Football.’\u201d Then, during the 2018 scouting combine, Gruden disparaged King\u2019s holding duties on the team\u2019s field goal unit.<\/p>\n

King heard Gruden wasn\u2019t fond of him, so he picked up gifts: Snickers for Gruden and bottles of limoncello for new special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia. The day King brought the gifts to the facility, he was released.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still have those two bottles of limoncello in my closet,\u201d Silberman said.<\/p>\n

When reached for comment for this story, Gruden told The Athletic, \u201cI never met Marquette King.\u201d Gruden, who resigned in 2021<\/a> after it was revealed he used racist, homophobic and sexist language in emails with league personnel, told outlets King\u2019s release was salary-cap related.<\/p>\n

King remains frustrated that he didn\u2019t receive an explanation from Gruden \u2014 or anyone. He admits the NFL Network interview was \u201ca little extra,\u201d but he maintains that, had Gruden or someone else in the organization told him to shut up and punt, \u201cI would have collected my check and just did my s\u2014.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll they had to do was just tell me,\u201d King said. \u201cBut some people aren\u2019t secure or confident enough to be able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For King, the release showed him the NFL was not a true meritocracy. \u201cThat\u2019s when I realized politics was a thing,\u201d he said. There were rumors he was a toxic teammate, that the penalties were his undoing and that the locker room soured on him because he trolled teammate Michael Crabtree by snapping a photo at the Pro Bowl<\/a> with Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib, who infamously snatched Crabtree\u2019s chain during the 2016 season finale.<\/p>\n

King had another explanation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just had too much personality,\u201d he said. \u201cI got a lot of personality, and people just don\u2019t know how to handle that, or people who are insecure with who they are \u2014 (if) they don\u2019t feel like they can have some type of control over how you move or what you do, then it\u2019s an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Marquette King was known as much for his exuberant celebrations as he was for his booming punts. (Doug Pensinger \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Following King\u2019s release from the Raiders, inquiring teams \u2014 there were several \u2014 did their due diligence. Over the years, in conversations with people around the league, Silberman would field questions about his client.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the running jokes was, \u2018Will your guy ever behave?’\u201d Silberman said.<\/p>\n

When King needed a new NFL home in 2018, it was Silberman\u2019s job to explain that King\u2019s unemployment wasn\u2019t injury- or performance-related.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was an implication there was a personality conflict with the new coach,\u201d Silberman said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s all you had to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

King signed with the Broncos a week after his release from Oakland, but he didn\u2019t last a full season in Denver before being placed on injured reserve with an abductor issue. He was eventually released after coming to an injury settlement with the team.<\/p>\n

As he tried to find another NFL job, perception affected reality. Whether he was truly a locker-room problem was a moot point. Whether he was actually unwilling to punt and stay quiet didn\u2019t matter. Despite tryouts with the Texans and Cowboys, King never received another NFL opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel the role of social media played a negative role in his ability to explore other opportunities in the NFL,\u201d Silberman said. \u201cHe was misunderstood often.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people that work for the NFL that want the entertainment and want to bring the camera people out to shoot and stuff, versus the coaches and how they want s\u2014 to run \u2014 they butt heads a lot,\u201d King said. \u201cThe people that do content for the NFL loved all the s\u2014 that I was doing. Some of the coaches didn\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither did some of his peers. King said he was approached by other punters about his nonconformity. The gist of their message: \u201cWhy can\u2019t you just do like we do and just kick the ball, do your job and get off the field?\u201d<\/p>\n

King\u2019s response?<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t grow up like y\u2019all,\u201d he said. \u201cI went to an HBCU and, I mean, s\u2014, I just got style, man. I got seasoning. The way I grew up, I just wasn\u2019t taught the same way. Most of the kickers and punters in the league are, what, 95 percent White?\u201d<\/p>\n

King tried to pick himself up. On good days, he sipped wine and watched the sunset. On bad days, he\u2019d lie around the house \u201cdepressed as f\u2014,\u201d replaying all his missteps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so negative to where I couldn\u2019t really pull myself out,\u201d King said. \u201cIt was just low, low frequency.\u201d<\/p>\n

When discussing punters who broke the mold, the first name that might spring to mind is Pat McAfee, who had the soul of a WWE star and the charisma of a stand-up comedian while owning one of the strongest right legs in the league.<\/p>\n

The longtime Colts punter retired after the 2016 season at age 29 to pursue a full-time career in media and is now one of the highest-paid figures in the industry. McAfee has shouted out King numerous times online and, during a charity event, called King \u201cone of my favorite humans walking this earth.\u201d King borrowed McAfee\u2019s punt celebration during a UFL game in 2024 and paid homage in an on-field interview, to which McAfee joyously responded on X.<\/p>\n

King says he\u2019s enjoyed McAfee\u2019s vault into superstardom because he \u201cfound a way to make punters and kickers cool as f\u2014.\u201d<\/p>\n

King has spent several seasons punting for the St. Louis Battlehawks and Arlington Renegades of the XFL and UFL He feels that if he were White, he\u2019d \u201cprobably\u201d still be in the NFL and \u201cbe tolerated a lot more.\u201d There is historical precedent, Loggins said, for expressions of exuberance being perceived differently based on race.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt transcends the player and it speaks toward the ask of a Black person in the United States to adhere to a politic of respectability that is not indicative of something that a White athlete or a White person has to adhere to,\u201d Loggins said.<\/p>\n

King\u2019s identity was tied to football, and having that taken away was difficult. He humbled himself to play in spring leagues, which came with salaries at a fraction of what he previously earned. \u201cI was struggling,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He says the time away from the league has helped him realize that football was a job, not his identity. He now creates music and custom jewelry and has a clothing line called \u201cKicksquad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy identity is being authentically me,\u201d King said. \u201cBeing authentic to who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Punting allowed him to do that. But so does recording music, performing at festivals, creating and designing. Whether he left the NFL on his terms or not, there\u2019s solace to be found in discovering who he is outside of the game.<\/p>\n

King, who turned 37 in October, might still flirt with the idea of coming back \u2014 he tagged the Buffalo Bills in a post on X in October \u2014 but, \u201cI\u2019m not pushing to get into the NFL like I used to because I see what it is,\u201d he said. \u201cI understand what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, King attended the Raiders\u2019 home game against the Dallas Cowboys as a special guest alongside former kicker Giorgio Tavecchio. King signed autographs and snapped photos with fans, a moment reminiscent of his playing days, when he was one of the team\u2019s most popular players.<\/p>\n

It was also a moment that wouldn\u2019t have been possible in the years immediately following his release. \u201cI still felt a certain type of way,\u201d King said. His presence Monday night was the product of King\u2019s peace with his football fate and his place in history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where you can sit around and feel bitter about it or you can do something about it,\u201d King said. \u201cI had to talk to myself and let myself know, \u2018At least I did it.\u2019 I got seven years under my belt. I did it. I still made an imprint in the game, no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2013 Marquette King boomed punts downfield, then celebrated with moves tailored to his opposition, carving out a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[1812,349,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-305198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}