Mac Engel: He was one of the best at his position in the NFL, but the league wants no part of Marquette King
Published in Football
ARLINGTON, Texas — Marquette King never looked the part, which was never really the problem.
Marquette King refused to play the part, which ultimately was the problem.
The irony isn’t lost on him. He was the rarest of NFL creatures: He was a punter, and there was a demand to buy his jersey.
He was a punter with fans.
“I remember when (the Raiders) came to me and told me that they had to make my jersey because so many people wanted to buy them,” he said. “That was pretty cool.”
That would have been around 2015. When the Raiders were still in Oakland. When King was in the middle of his six-year NFL career when he was one of the top players at his position.
He last punted in the NFL in 2018, when he played one season for the Denver Broncos. It ended ugly, when it should not have ended at all.
Today, he’s 34, the oldest player in the XFL. He plays for the Arlington Renegades, now in its first season in the latest reboot of the XFL.
King ranks first in the XFL in punting.
He is the perfect candidate to take this opportunity in the XFL and turn it into a look from the NFL. He’s not expecting it.
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