Marquette King is gone, but certainly not forgotten.
The former Raiders punter — recently released by new head coach Jon Gruden and signed by the Denver Broncos — is still on the minds of many of his former teammates. It appears the talented King may have rubbed many of them the wrong way with his celebrations, penalties and personality.
On Tuesday, Raiders linebacker Bruce Irvin tweeted that he’d “asked to play punt return today against Denver” this coming season — an indication he’d like to have a crack at King on the field. King recently said one of the reasons he signed with the Broncos was for the “revenge factor,” the chance to play against Gruden and the Raiders.
King said the Broncos allow players “to be yourself.”
Irvin tweeted, too, that he “got approval” for playing on the punt-return unit and hinted he might be ready with a special greeting for King if he gets the opportunity, adding he has “fine money too” – meaning, of course, he’d pay any fine coming his way for unsportsmanlike conduct or unnecessary roughness.
Former Raiders receiver and return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson, now with the New England Patriots, was equally clear that King wasn’t a locker-room favorite.
Speaking on the NFL Network, Patterson said of King: “People didn’t like him, dude. He was kind of like a diva, but he wasn’t. He wouldn’t show it that much. He was just crazy, man. He had fun though. I respect him as a person, but he just did things a little different.”
