Friday, March 30, 2018 is a sad day in the NFL. The Oakland Raiders announced they would be cutting punter Marquette King.
The Raiders have tragically cut Marquette King, the NFL’s most entertaining punter. WTF?
King is delightful, both on and off the field. The Raiders are going to miss him.
Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images
In the Raiders’ release, they described King as such:
King, originally signed by the club as an undrafted free agent in 2012, has spent his first six years with the Raiders. Over his six-year career, he has played in 80 games, recorded 426 punts for 19,941 yards (46.8 avg.) and pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line 156 times with 33 touchbacks.
That doesn’t do him any justice. Sure, the team’s gotta keep it professional and whatnot, but, my God, King was so much more than some punter who signed with the team in 2012 who booted the pigskin into the dry Oakland air.
King was more than just a punter. He told SB Nation in December 2016 that with each punt, he felt like he was “going to just explode into confetti.”
And that’s how he played. He would dab after punts (when it was still cool to do so), ride a bronco after sending a booming punt against the Broncos, or one of his best works ever, dancing with a referee’s flag:
Aside from being one of the most entertaining players on the football field, he is always interesting off of it.
Sometimes he dresses up as a Power Ranger. The green one, to be exact — that was his favorite. “I just randomly do it, man,” King told SB Nation in 2016. “Shoot, I might wake up and feel like putting on that Superman outfit, and I just go in my car. I might just put it on and walk around the crib with it.”
“Shit I might go to the store with it on, if I feel like it. It’s just me, it’s just what I like to do sometimes. I just like having fun man, living life.”
He also is willing to practice in it:
There’s no limit to his creativity. He loves football, and life in general:
But the Raiders decided saving $2.9 million was worth a million broken hearts. Hot take alert: but I don’t know, maybe Jon Gruden could throw back some of that $100 million he signed for. King is truthfully worth more than $2.9 million.
At least a couple Raiders reporters say it was about more than just money and on-field performance, though.
Wherever King lands next, we’ll be watching. If it’s in Denver, he could pretend to ride that Bronco a lot more often.
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