D. Kimbrough ("Kim") King (October 6, 1945 – October 12, 2004) was

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

's starting

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for three seasons beginning in 1965. During his career, he led the team in 712 plays, completing 243 passes for 2763 yards and 21 touchdowns while rushing for 506 yards, placing him in Tech's all-time top 10 quarterbacks. Al Ciraldo, Tech's

play-by-play announcer In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

, gave Kim the nickname "The Young Left-Hander." He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1978 and the

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...

in 1996. In 2000, he was named one of Georgia Tech's "50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century." Kim joined Al Ciraldo in the announcer's booth in 1974 as

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

. After Ciraldo's retirement in 1993, Kim continued his duties, eventually being paired with then Tech play-by-play,

Wes Durham Dallas Wesley "Wes" Durham (born January 25, 1966 in Greensboro, North Carolina) is an American sportscaster. He is a play-by-play announcer for Fox Sports and ACC Network coverage of college football and basketball. He works telecasts of the Atl ...

in 1995. Kim continued broadcasting after his initial diagnosis with leukemia, though he had to miss games at times to travel for medical treatment. Aside from football, Kim was a very accomplished businessman with presence in the Atlanta business and political communities. Kim was a successful developer and founded his own firm, Kim King and Associates. He served as finance chairman for former Gov.

Roy Barnes Roy Eugene Barnes (born March 11, 1948)Cook, James F. (2005). ''The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004, 3rd Edition, Revised and Expanded.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th Govern ...

and

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

Georgia Public Broadcasting Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) is a state network of PBS member television stations and NPR member radio stations serving the U.S. state of Georgia. It is operated by the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, an agency of the Geo ...

board. He helped raise money for cancer research and the

Bobby Dodd Charities Foundation Bobby or Bobbie may refer to: People * Bobby (given name), a list of names * Bobby (actress), from Bangladesh * Bobby (rapper) (born 1995), from South Korea * Bobby (screenwriter) (born 1983), Indian screenwriter * Bobby, old slang for a constabl ...

. Kim lost his extended battle with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

on October 12, 2004, six days after his 59th birthday. October 2, 2004, Georgia Tech honored King during the school's game against

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. Kim and his wife were treated to a lap around the field in the "

Ramblin' Wreck The Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech is the 1930 Ford Model A Sport coupe that serves as the official mascot of the student body at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Wreck is present at all major sporting events and student body functi ...

" and the school dedicated the Kim King Football Locker Room at

Bobby Dodd Stadium Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field is the football stadium located at the corner of North Avenue at Techwood Drive on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. It has been home to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets foo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Kim 1945 births 2004 deaths American football quarterbacks College football announcers Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football announcers Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Players of American football from Atlanta

See also

References