When the then-Oakland Raiders hired Jon Gruden in 2018, Gruden promptly made a number of changes to the team. But one All-Pro who was among the cuts feels that his release may have been done out of hate.
Appearing on 95.7 The Game this week, former Raiders punter Marquette King recalled what happened when Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie called him into his office to cut him in 2018. King said that McKenzie told him that Gruden simply didn’t want him on the team anymore.
“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.’”
King said he was hurt by the news that Gruden didn’t want him without having even met him. He was two years removed from an All-Pro season and had averaged 48 yards a punt over that span.
“I never met the guy before. I never talked to him… 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 lamented being forced to leave the Raiders because the team had felt like home. He said that he couldn’t understand why Gruden would say those things about him and wondered if he was simply hated.
“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 said. “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.”
Unfortunately, King isn’t getting a whole lot of support from the NFL world. Many are pointing out that players get cut without being met all the time. Some also feel that Gruden didn’t like King’s knack for celebrating after punts:
Marquette King’s NFL career didn’t have much life after being cut. He appeared in four games for the Denver Broncos in 2018 before suffering an injury.
King was released after the season and didn’t play in 2019. He joined the XFL in 2020 and led the league in yards per punt during its five-game run.
Last year King attempted to make an NFL comeback but was not signed by anyone.
Why do you think Jon Gruden wanted to cut Marquette King?