Mitch King (born May 5, 1986) is a former

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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He was signed by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2009. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Early years

King attended Burlington Community High School in Burlington, Iowa. He was a Class 4A first-team All-State selection from as a senior and a member of SuperPrep all-Region team . He was also First-team All-Conference as both a linebacker and running back as a senior and Second-team All-Conference linebacker as a junior. For his career he career with 1,400 rushing yards including, 850 yards as a senior. He was a two-year letterman in football, swimming and he was also a letterman in baseball and track.

College career

King was selected to play in 2009 Senior Bowl after becoming the 60th player in Iowa football to record over 200 career tackles. He ranks 41st in career tackles with 228 career stops. In 2008, he was

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Defensive Lineman of the Year, First-team All-American by

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and Second-team All-American by

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

, Associated Press and SI.Com as well as Third-team All-American by

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. He was a consensus First-team All-Big Ten In his year of honors he Started all 13 games at defensive tackle, recording 27 solo tackles and 27 assists, including 15.5 tackles for loss and four QB sacks. In 2007, he was named First-team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and named First-team All-Big Ten by Rivals.com. His stats were as follows: He made 58 (25 solo) tackles (14.5 for losses) and 4.5 sacks and 7 passed deflected and forced a fumble. 2006 King made 56 (21 solo) and as four of them went for losses. He also made 7 sacks and deflected 4 passes and forced three fumbles. 2005 he was First-team Freshman All-America 2005 after he totaled 60 tackles (36 solo) 60 11 tackles for a loss and two sacks, 3 passes deflected, 3 forced fumbles. In 2004, he redshirted.

Professional career

2009 NFL Draft

King was predicted to go somewhere in the 5th to 7th round in the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

, but went undrafted.

Tennessee Titans

King was signed by the

as an

in 2009. He chose to go to Tennessee to learn under

Kyle Vanden Bosch Kyle Dale Vanden Bosch (born November 17, 1978) is a former American football defensive end who played over ten years in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Nebraska, and was drafted by the Arizo ...

and defensive line coach

Jim Washburn Jim Washburn (born December 2, 1949) is an American football coach. He was the assistant defensive line coach for the Detroit Lions from 2013 to 2015, defensive line coach for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League and the Tenness ...

even though he had many offers from other teams. He was waived on September 4, 2009. He was re-signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

the next day.

Indianapolis Colts

King signed a future contract with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

on January 23, 2010, after his contract with the Titans expired. King was given his release from the Colts on October 5, 2010.

St. Louis Rams

Shortly after King was released from the Colts he was signed to the Rams practice squad. The Rams released Mitch King on December 14.

New Orleans Saints

After being released by the Rams, King was signed to the Saints practice squad. He was re-signed on January 18, 2012. King was waived on June 2, 2012.

Houston Texans

The

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

signed King on July 30, 2012, and was released in final cuts in August.

References

External links

Houston Texans bioNew Orleans Saints bioSt. Louis Rams bioTennessee Titans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Mitch 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Iowa People from Burlington, Iowa American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Iowa Hawkeyes football players Tennessee Titans players Indianapolis Colts players New Orleans Saints players Houston Texans players