Brandon King (linebacker)


Brandon King is an American football outside linebacker for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. 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.

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.
In July 2012, King verbally committed to transfer to the University of South Alabama and to play for the Jaguars football team. 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.
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.

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. He was projected to go undrafted and was ranked as the 72nd best strong safety prospect by NFLDraftScout.com.

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.
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. On October 10, 2015, the Patriots signed King to their active roster after releasing cornerback Bradley Fletcher. 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. King finished his rookie season with 12 combined tackles in 13 games and played solely on special teams. His 12 special teams tackles finished second on the team behind only Matthew Slater's 17.
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.

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
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.
On October 16, 2016, King recorded a season-high two combined tackles during a 35-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. He finished the season with ten combined tackles 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. 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.

2017

On April 12, 2017, King signed his exclusive rights free agent tender to remain with the Patriots. 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.
The Patriots would reach Super Bowl LII, but lost 41-33 to the Philadelphia Eagles with King recording 1 tackle.

2018

On March 8, 2018, King signed a two-year contract extension with the Patriots for $2.6 million. 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.

2019

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