USA TODAY International Edition
Flag dance gets low mark
Marquette King, the Oakland Raiders punter, said Monday that he apologized for dancing with a referee’s penalty flag and spiking it onto the turf during the Raiders’ 38- 24 victory against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
King drew a 15- yard penalty for roughing the kicker when he was hit by a defender, but then King received his own 15- yard penalty when he was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after picking up the yellow flag.
“I was like, ‘ You know what ref? I’m going to bring you some flowers on Monday just to show you I’m sorry for picking up your flag,’ ” King told USA TODAY Sports. “The thing about it is, you never know where the referees go. They’re like incognito. Referees always disappear somewhere.”
King, by contrast, has been anything but incognito.
This season, the NFL’s only African- American punter has drawn attention for his on- field celebrations that have included mimicking a cowboy riding a horse and a windmill- arm dance. But King said his display Sunday was decidedly different. It was borne of anger. King said he was stewing after getting hit by defenders after two punts, the second of which result- ed in the 15- yard penalty.
“Shoot, man, I don’t know,” King said during a phone interview before practice Monday. “I just kind of got caught in the moment.
“I got hit after one of the punts and then I got hit again, and I just felt a certain type of way. So I was like, all right, you keep running into me, then let’s go. So I just kind of lost it a little.
“If I get mad, I’m going to find a way to reverse it and be positive. You know what I’m saying? I just got aggravated for getting smacked for no reason and, shoot, I just reacted.
“I didn’t know I couldn’t pick up the flag. It’s like I just lost it. It was my way of getting mad in a positive way.”
King said he had a brief exchange with Raiders coach Jack Del Rio after the punter ran off the field.
“He was smiling, but he was like, ‘ Bro, you can’t pick up the flag, man’ ” King recalled with a laugh. “I didn’t know I couldn’t pick up the flag. It was my way of getting mad in a positive way.”