Shawn King (born June 24, 1972) is a former

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

who played for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

and Indianapolis Colts. He is best remembered for his numerous suspensions due to violating the NFL's drug policy.

NFL career

Shawn King was drafted in the second round of the 1995 draft by the

. King was first drug violation came in 1995 during his rookie training camp after testing positive for marijuana. King played in 13 games his rookie season and in all 16 games the following season. However, after testing positive again, King was suspended for the first six games of the 1997 season, only appearing in 9 games. After yet another positive test, King found himself suspended for the entire 1998 season. Prior to the 1999 season, King signed a three-year, $6 million contract with the Indianapolis Colts and started 8 of the team's first 9 games, but was suspended again (along with teammate Tito Wooten), this time for four games due to showing up late to a meeting. The Colts later cut King and he was suspended yet again by the league for 12 months for another drug violation and missed the entire 2000 season. Though he was reinstated in January 2001, King chose to retire from the NFL citing the league's drug policy as a reason. After four season of retirement, King signed on to play with the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

for the

2004 AFL season The 2004 AFL season was the 108th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured ...

, after which he left pro football for good.

Suspensions

Shawn King was active in the NFL for six seasons from 1995 to 2000. However, due to suspensions, King missed 42 games, including the entire 1998 and 2000 seasons. King retired from the NFL in January 2001 shortly after the league reinstated him due to his problems with the drug policy. *1995 - Placed in the NFL's intervention program after violating the NFL's drug policy *1997 - Suspended for six games during the 1997 season due to violating the NFL's drug policy *1998 - Suspended for the entire 1998 season due to violating the NFL's drug policy *1999 - Suspended for four games during the 1999 season due after missing bed check and showing up late to a team meeting *2000 - Suspended for the entire 2000 season after violating NFL's drug policy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Shawn 1972 births Living people African-American players of American football American football defensive ends American sportspeople in doping cases Carolina Panthers players Indianapolis Colts players LSU Tigers football players Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football players Tampa Bay Storm players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople