Punter Marquette King
Marquette King isn't a cowboy – not by a long shot – but in the third quarter of the Oakland Raiders Week 9 matchup against the Denver Broncos, the colorful punter hopped on his imaginary pony, and rode to the sideline, and in the process into the hearts of a national TV audience.
King has made a habit of downing the ball inside the 10-yard line – he leads the NFL with five such kicks – and this season he's also made a habit of celebrating his big moments with a little flare that isn't commonly seen with the rest of his fellow specialists.
"He's entertaining," said Head Coach Jack Del Rio with a laugh when asked about his dancing punter. "He's good. He's got a knack for it. I don't know about that pony ride he went on last night. That's not in my repertoire right now, I can tell you, but he's having fun."
With the type of season that King is having, it's easy to understand why he's having fun too.
His 21 punts of 50-plus yards lead the NFL, and now in his fourth season handling the punting duties for the Silver and Black, he's established himself as one of premier punters in the league, boasting a powerful leg, that combined with a rare precision makes him a unique weapon for the Raiders.
Not only that, he's one of the premier entertainers the league has too, which is evidenced by his exuberance on his personal social media accounts, as well as his on-field celebrations ranging from his interpretation of the Ray Lewis dance to the ever-popular dab.
King is a great showman who loves his job, so it's not really a surprise that following his third quarter punt that was downed at the Broncos two-yard line, No. 7 channeled his inner Ginuwine, and rode his pony back to the sideline, setting social media a flutter in the process.
The explosive punter – who's always quick to point out that punters are athletes too – obviously has a ton of fun at work, but does any member of the Silver and Black have more fun than the self-proclaimed KickSquad President?
"Nah, probably not," defensive tackle Justin Ellis said with a big smile. "He's a fun guy. He's fun to watch, man. He's so excited all the time. He never has any kind of bad vibes, sad looks. He always has a smile on his face doing something crazy, funny."
King certainly knows how to have fun both on and off the field, but although his now-famous repertoire of dance moves has earned him a fair amount of national notoriety, his moves are not above constructive criticism.
"He needs to improve all his dance moves," linebacker Daren Bates said. "It's more funny than it is exciting to see. He can work on them a little bit, but hey, as long as he can put that ball, he can do whatever dance moves he wants."
Bates is on the punt team with King, so he has a different view for the punter's dances than Ellis does on the sideline, so what does the big defensive tackle think when he sees his punter break out his dancing shoes?
"That's Marquette," Ellis said with a chuckle. "That's it. That's Marquette. That's what he do."
