The Raiders' punter, Marquette King, explains his perspective on why he thinks he was excluded from the NFL.

Billy Heyen

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What happened to Marquette King? Raiders punter reveals why he believes he was blackballed from NFL image

TL;DR

  • Marquette King, a former All-Pro punter, believes he was blackballed from the NFL.
  • King attributes his exclusion to having "too much personality" and being difficult to control.
  • Rumors suggested King was a toxic teammate and his penalties contributed to his downfall.
  • Despite being 37, King is not actively pursuing an NFL return, feeling his era concluded.

Marquette King was a second-team All-Pro for the Raiders in 2016.

His last NFL games came just two years later.

Since that time, King has continued to punt extensively in other professional football leagues that have emerged during the spring. However, he hasn't received an NFL opportunity since his four games with the Broncos back in 2018.

During his time in Oakland, King was a popular figure, and he recently attended the Raiders' Monday Night Football matchup at their new stadium in Las Vegas.

He's 37, an age punters can still compete at, though, and King isn't out there.

What became of Marquette King?

King believes he was blackballed from the NFL.

He spoke with The Athletic recently and said this:

“I’m definitely blackballed. I’m definitely better than over half the punters still playing. That’s just what it is.”

Why does King believe that happened?

“I just had too much personality,” King told The Athletic. “I got a lot of personality, and people just don’t know how to handle that, or people who are insecure with who they are — (if) they don’t feel like they can have some type of control over how you move or what you do, then it’s an issue.”

Michael Shawn-Dugar of The Athletic painted what the league's picture of King may have been: 

"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 with Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib, who infamously snatched Crabtree’s chain during the 2016 season finale."

King mentioned the Buffalo Bills in an October X post, yet he informed The Athletic that he's not pursuing a return to the NFL. His era as a premier punter in the league seems to have concluded.

"I got seven years under my belt," King told The Athletic. "I did it. I still made an imprint in the game, no matter what.”

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