Marquette King was one of the best punters in the NFL during his time with the Raiders from 2012 to 2018. He led the league in punting yards and set franchise records for the Raiders in 2014. King continued that trajectory with Second-Team All-Pro honors in 2016.
King was released by the Raiders on March 20th, 2018, less than three months after Jon Gruden was given a 10-year contract by the franchise. That leadership change for the Raiders seemed to have a lot to do with King’s release.
The punter opened up about his release from the Raiders in an exclusive interview on the latest episode of Audacy’s Silver And Black Today - A Las Vegas Raiders Show.
“I showed up to the facility one morning … I came with gifts and everything,” King said (2:40 in player above).”
King had limoncello for special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia and even went to the gas station for a whole box of Snickers for Jon Gruden after hearing about how uptight he can be.
“You know me, if you know who I am as a person, if you take time to get to know who I am as a person, I try to find a way to brighten up, bring light to everything,” he said.
King then got a call from Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie asking him to go back to the facility. He was excited to meet with the GM after a great season in Oakland. But that excitement quickly turned to shock.
“As soon as I showed up, Reggie was telling me that Gruden doesn’t want me there,” King said. “We’re about to let you go, we’re gonna put you on the wire, and it’s gonna hit the news soon.”
He went into the locker room to say some goodbyes, many didn’t think he was being serious. Including Marshawn Lynch.
“I saw Marshawn Lynch in the back of the fieldhouse in the new part of the fieldhouse in Oakland. We were talking … Marshawn didn’t think it was serious,” King said. “He was pretty pissed off when he heard about it. Next thing you know I saw it on Twitter … and I was like damn, I ain’t ever get cut before.”
King was taken aback by the conversation with McKenzie and ultimately the Raiders’ decision to release him. He was coming off a great season and was looking forward to building upon that with a new coaching staff.
But he never got a chance to meet or even talk to Gruden before his release from the Raiders, despite his efforts.
“I never met the guy before. I never talked to him. I tried to reach out to Rich Bisaccia, he left me on read… Any time I get a new coach I try to reach out to him, get to know him, but I never got a chance to meet any of them. I never got a chance to talk to any of them. It was just the weirdest thing ever. It actually kind of hurt. It felt like a loss”
King felt like he was at home in Oakland. He mentioned wanting to be like Sebastian Janikowski and Shane Lechler, former Raiders special teamers that spent over a decade there.
“Raiders felt like home. That was home. Staying in the bay was home. Wearing those colors, I couldn’t see myself wearing any other colors,” he continued. “I honestly should’ve took a year off. I was just so scarred from that, man. Feeling like somebody just has a motive behind just letting you go.
“I honestly don’t understand. I think it was hate. That’s what I feel like. That’s the only way you can be like that towards somebody if you never met them. I don’t know, some people just got hate in their heart.”
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