Marquette King was not in the mood to talk football on the final day of the Broncos’ recent minicamp.
Teammate Von Miller’s Instagram live story the same afternoon provided a glimpse into what the first-year Denver punter might like to discuss. King, released by the Raiders last winter, sat in his Broncos locker, a pad of paper pressed against one leg and a pen in hand. “This is my brother Marquette King,” Miller said behind the camera. “What you drawing man, let me see?” King replied: “I’m writing for this song cuz.”
Wanna peek inside the eclectic mind of arguably the NFL’s best punter?
“I actually stopped thinking about football,” King told The Denver Post.
Just don’t take it at face value. King requires a deeper evaluation.
Listen to his music, like an electric-dance rap tune King released last week on and , entitled: Think Sometimes. “People keep asking me how I feel about moving to Denver,” . “I decided to make how I feel into a song.” Here’s a snippet:
Will I live here happily?
Or will this city just be bad to me?
I don’t really care no more, cause I decide
How my days are gonna go, so I just bring that vibe.
Always enigmatic, even dancing after deep pin-backs , former teammates such as wide receiver , “He was kind of like a diva, but he wasn’t. He wouldn’t show it that much. He was just crazy, man.”
King, 29, brings a style all his own to the Broncos’ locker room.
Despite having a booming leg, King was released by first-year Raiders’ coach Jon Gruden. After signing a three-year, $7 million deal with Denver, King said: “The cool thing about the Broncos is the people who work at the Broncos encourage you to be yourself. … Players play a lot better when they can let their hair down and be themselves.”
Denver finished last season ranked No. 14 in yards per punt (40.8 yards) with . King appears to be a clear upgrade, so long as the Broncos don’t halt his creative process. The opening line of his before-mentioned music single: “Hard to think sometimes, moving to another city.”
“I know they kind of want him to tone it down, but I think itap good to have personality,” Broncos linebacker said. “There’s nothing wrong with it.”
In Denver, King is welcomed by first-year special teams coach Tom McMahon, whose experience with expressive punters dates back to 2013 as the Indianapolis special teams coordinator working with Pat McAfee, now a popular Barstool Sports personality.
https://twitter.com/MarquetteKing/status/1010203887146491904
King posted a video Friday on Twitter — galloping in blue Broncos shorts out front of the Raiders’ football facility. The caption: “#Mood. Happy Friday.” Thatap no issue, it seems, in apountry.
“(His) personality is great,” McMahon said during minicamp. “Itap one of those deals where when we’re out there on the rectangle, he’s all football. (King and kicker ) are two of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around in my life. They just work, work, work. Thatap what I coach is just their own rectangle on the field. They know I’m not going to get involved in their lives.”
On the field, Broncos coach called King a “weapon.”
“When you want to play great defense, having a great punter is always critical,” Joseph said. “He has been engaged, he’s fun to be around, he’s focused and, in my opinion, his better years are ahead of him.”
King said he’ll spend his down time in California and Arizona working on his music, his punting, and, as he puts it, “just chill,” before the start of Broncos training camp July 28. He thinks the altitude boost at 5,280-feet is over-hyped. King’s teammates have accepted him, he added.
Now, though, itap back to another beat.
“The people are real nice out here,” King said. “I’m just going to focus on my craft.”
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