Brandon King (linebacker)

Brandon King (born June 8, 1993) is an American football outside linebacker for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2015 and would later win Super Bowl LI over the Atlanta Falcons, and Super Bowl LIII over the Los Angeles Rams. He played college football at Auburn in his final two years of collegiate eligibility, after spending his freshman and sophomore seasons playing at Highland Community College.

Not to be confused with Brandon King (cornerback).

Brandon King
King in 2015
No. 36 – New England Patriots
Position:Outside linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1993-06-08) June 8, 1993
Alabaster, Alabama
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school:Thompson
(Alabaster, Alabama)
College:Auburn
Undrafted:2015
Career history
Roster status:Reserve/physically unable to perform
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2018
Total tackles:42
Sacks:0.0
Forced fumbles:2
Fumble recoveries:0
Interceptions:0
Player stats at NFL.com

College career

King played at the linebacker position for the Highland Scotties of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. In his sophomore season, King recorded 118 tackles and was ranked as the fifth best safety in the national community college rankings.[1]

In July 2012, King verbally committed to transfer to the University of South Alabama and to play for the Jaguars football team.[2] However, in January 2013, King announced that he had changed his mind, and on National Signing Day a month later, signed to play for the Tigers of Auburn University beginning in the 2013 FBS season.[3]

At Auburn, King played behind Robenson Therezie at the "star" safety position, seeing action in every game of his first season for the Tigers, albeit mostly on special teams. Halfway through his senior season, King was moved to defensive end by his coaches, who were looking for increased speed at the position.[4]

Professional career

King was not ranked as a top safety prospect and did not receive an invitation to the NFL Combine. On March 3, 2015, King participated at Auburn's pro day, along with Cameron Artis-Payne, Angelo Blackson, Quan Bray, Sammie Coates, Reese Dismukes, Corey Grant, Nick Marshall, C. J. Uzomah, Jermaine Whitehead, Gabe Wright, Trovon Reed, and nine other teammates. King performed all of the combine and positional drills for scouts and representatives from all 32 NFL teams.[5] He was projected to go undrafted and was ranked as the 72nd best strong safety prospect by NFLDraftScout.com.

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump Bench press
6 ft 2 in
(1.88 m)		 217 lb
(98 kg)		 4.49 s 1.55 s 2.58 s 4.47 s 7.28 s 38 in
(0.97 m)		 10 ft 6 in
(3.20 m)		 19 reps
All values from Auburn's Pro Day[6]

2015

On May 8, 2015, the New England Patriots signed King as an undrafted free agent after he went unselected in the 2015 NFL Draft. The contract King agreed to was for three-years and $1.57 million.[7][8]

With the Patriots depth at both safety positions, King was relegated to competing for a role on special teams. On September 5, 2015, King was released by the Patriots as part of their final roster cuts and was signed to the practice squad the next day.[9][10] On October 10, 2015, the Patriots signed King to their active roster after releasing cornerback Bradley Fletcher.[11] The following day, he made his professional regular season debut and recorded two solo tackles in a 30-6 victory at the Dallas Cowboys. On November 23, 2015, King collected two solo tackles and forced the first fumble of his career in a 20-13 victory over the Buffalo Bills. During the third quarter, King was assigned to be the gunner on the punt recovery team, opposite Matthew Slater. He forced the Buffalo Bills' punt returner Leodis McKelvin to fumble and it was recovered by Patriots' linebacker Jonathan Freeny.[12] King finished his rookie season with 12 combined tackles (ten solo) in 13 games and played solely on special teams.[13] His 12 special teams tackles finished second on the team behind only Matthew Slater's 17.[14]

The New England Patriots finished the season atop the AFC East with a 12-4 record. On January 16, 2016, King played in his first career playoff game and assisted on a tackle during the Patriots' 27-20 victory In the AFC divisional game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The following game, he recorded two solo tackles in the Patriots 20-18 loss to the eventual Super Bowl 50 Champions the Denver Broncos.[13]

2016

On April 7, 2016, King signed his exclusive rights free agent tender to remain with the Patriots. The contract terms were for one-year and $525,000[15][8]

King competed with Cedric Thompson throughout training camp for a job as a backup strong safety. He was named the third string strong safety behind Patrick Chung and Jordan Richards to start the season.[16]

On October 16, 2016, King recorded a season-high two combined tackles during a 35-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. He finished the 2016 season with ten combined tackles (7 solo) in 16 games and zero starts. On February 5, 2017, King was part of the Patriots team that won Super Bowl LI. In the game, the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34–28 in overtime.[17] Throughout the playoffs, he appeared in all three games and assisted on one tackle in the AFC divisional round 34-16 victory over the Houston Texans.[18]

2017

On April 12, 2017, King signed his exclusive rights free agent tender to remain with the Patriots.[8][19] He made the Patriots' 53-man roster after establishing himself as a core special teamer in his previous two years with the team.

On October 29, 2017, King forced his first career safety while defending a punt return when he tackled Travis Benjamin in the endzone during the Patriots' 21-13 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.[20]

The Patriots would reach Super Bowl LII, but lost 41-33 to the Philadelphia Eagles with King recording 1 tackle.[21]

2018

On March 8, 2018, King signed a two-year contract extension with the Patriots for $2.6 million.[22] King helped the Patriots reach Super Bowl LIII, which they ended up winning against the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 13-3 on February 3, 2019.[21]

2019

On May 17, 2019, King signed a two-year contract extension with the Patriots through the 2021 season.[23] He was placed on injured reserve on August 25, 2019 with a torn quad.[24]

2020

King was placed on the active/physically unable to perform list (PUP) at the start of training camp on August 2, 2020.[25] He was moved to the reserve/PUP list on August 11.[26]

gollark: Either.
gollark: You can work as a potatOS tester.
gollark: Sure!
gollark: The economy is already weird and distorted.
gollark: *considers posting about PotatOS on old førums*

References
  1. "Highland Alum Signs with Patriots". Highland Community College. 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  2. "Brandon King latest to give verbal commitment to South Alabama". Alabama Media Group. July 28, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  3. "JUCO safety Brandon King commits to Auburn". Alabama Media Group. January 4, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  4. "Looking for speed, Auburn moves Brandon King to defensive end". Alabama Media Group. October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  5. Joel Erickson (March 3, 2015). "See how all 21 Auburn draft hopefuls performed at Pro Day". AL.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  6. "Brandon King, DS #72 SS, Auburn". NFLDraftScout.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  7. "Patriots sign seven undrafted free agents". Comcast SportsNet New England. May 8, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  8. "Brandon King contrct details". spotrac.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  9. "Patriots release 11 players; Place Brandon LaFell on PUP". Patriots.com. September 5, 2015. Archived from the original on June 8, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  10. "Patriots sign 10 players to the practice squad". Patriots.com. September 7, 2015. Archived from the original on December 3, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  11. "Patriots release DB Bradley Fletcher; Sign DB Brandon King from the practice squad". Patriots.com. October 10, 2015. Archived from the original on October 12, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
  12. Oliver Thomas (November 24, 2015). "Patriots rookie Brandon King a 'mismatch guy' on special teams". 247sports.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  13. "NFL Player stats: Brandon King-2015". NFL.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  14. Mike Reiss [@MikeReiss] (January 7, 2016). "Patriots special teams leading tacklers in 2015: Matthew Slater (17), Brandon King (12), Nate Ebner (11). Next player on the list has 3" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. "Patriots re-sign RB LeGarrette Blount; Sign exclusive rights free agents DB Justin Coleman and S Brandon King". Patriots.com. April 12, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  16. "Ourlads.com: New England Patriots' depth chart: 08/01/2017". Ourlads.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  17. "Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons - February 5th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  18. "NFL Player stats: Brandon King-2016". NFL.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  19. "Patriots re-sign exclusive rights free agent DB Brandon King". Patriots.com. April 12, 2017.
  20. "Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots - October 29th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  21. https://247sports.com/nfl/new-england-patriots/Article/Brandon-King-offers-advice-to-NFL-draft-prospects-129076488/
  22. "Roundup: Patriots' Brandon King signs two-year deal". NFL.com. March 8, 2018.
  23. "Patriots sign LB Brandon King to a 2-year extension". Pats Pulpit. May 17, 2019.
  24. "Patriots' Brandon King: Placed on IR". CBSSports.com. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
  25. DeArdo, Bryan (August 4, 2020). "Patriots place running back Sony Michel, receiver Mohamed Sanu on PUP list, per report". CBSSports.com. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  26. "Patriots Sign DL Darius Kilgo; Place LB Brandon King on Reserve/PUP List". Patriots.com. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
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