Dallas Cowboys King was signed as an
undrafted free agent by the
Dallas Cowboys after the
1981 NFL draft. He was waived on August 3. He was re-signed and released again on August 25. On September 8, he was re-signed after
linebacker Mike Hegman fractured his arm in the season opener against the
Washington Redskins. He played mainly on
special teams and remained on the roster after Hegman returned. He was mainly a nickel
linebacker and
special teams player for three seasons. On August 27,
1984, he was traded to the
Detroit Lions in exchange for a sixth round draft choice (#151-
Stan Gelbaugh).
Detroit Lions King was a part-time starter and
special teams player for the
Detroit Lions in his first season with the team. In
1985, the team changed to a
3-4 defense and although he was assigned the role of nickel linebacker, he eventually started 9 games after
Michael Cofer was lost for the year and posted career-highs with 90 tackles (77 solo) and 4 sacks. The next year, he missed 5 games with an ankle injury (4 weeks spent on the
injured reserve list). After
Jimmy Williams was lost for the year, he started the last 4 games at
strongside linebacker and finished with 23 tackles. He was cut on September 6,
1987. After the players went on a strike on the third week of the season, those games were canceled (reducing the 16 game season to 15) and the
NFL decided that the games would be played with replacement players. King was re-signed to be a part of the Lions replacement team, but was injured in the first game and placed on the
injured reserve list, before being released on October 27. ==References==