Marquette King commenced his NFL career with the Oakland Raiders, and he quickly established himself as one of the top punting players for their offense. The Raiders suddenly parted ways with the punter in 2018, saving $2.9 million of the salary cap.
Since the reason for the termination was unclear, there were many rumors regarding what went wrong between the two sides. The former Raiders athlete recently revealed one of the potential causes of his firing.
Marquette King sheds light on his Raiders exit
Marquette King didn’t have to work very hard to capture his fans’ hearts due to his exceptional physical prowess and uncommon mix of punting skills during his NFL career. Because of this, the punter’s release caused controversy, and at first, the team’s head coach Jon Gruden came under fire from the fans because the punter was let go barely three months after Gruden took over.
Whether it came from Gruden or another member of the team, Marquette himself thought that “hate” and “discrimination” were the only factors in his removal. King recently mentioned another person who might be responsible for his termination during his appearance in “Blackout Division LLC.”
The All-Pro punter brashly addressed Raiders owner Mark Davis’ name behind the incident. King jokingly remarked that Davis once came across him with two women. The owner may not have been able to handle the situation well and gave their former player a “soft nuggie” before warning him, “I SEE YOU.”
King’s disclosure shocked the NFL community, and immediately many banded together to voice their shock at how such a ridiculous cause might be used to end a veteran player’s career in the league.
Marquette King NFL career recap
Only six Black punters have ever made it to the NFL, and Marquette King was one of them. The Raiders added him as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and initially appeared to value him, as they inked him to a five-year, $16.5 million contract deal in February 2016. He finished in the top 10 of net punting average five different times with the Raiders throughout the course of his five years there.
Before being let go by the team in 2018, he played there for five seasons. The 34-year-old led the NFL in punting yards in 2014, and in 2016 he was named to the second team of All-Pros. The punter had the third-best net average (42.7 yards) in the NFL the season before he was sacked.
After leaving the Raiders, Marquette King signed with the Denver Broncos, where he played for one season until being released due to injury concerns. The former NFL player averaged 46.7 yards per punt throughout the course of his six-year career, which ties him for the fifth-highest total in NFL history.
After witnessing the demise of his NFL career, Marquette moved on to a fresh start with the St. Louis Battlehawks in the XFL.
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