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Position: | Fullback | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | Mariah Hill, Indiana, U.S. | January 7, 1963||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | Heritage Hills (Lincoln City, Indiana) | ||||||||||||
College: | Purdue | ||||||||||||
NFL draft: | 1985 / Round: 5 / Pick: 126 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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Bruce King (born January 7, 1963) is a former American football fullback in the National Football League (NFL). He split his 3-year career with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Purdue. During his career, King was the only rookie fullback/running back to start on opening day of the 1985 season.
King graduated from Heritage Hills High School, where he helped lead the Patriots to a 3-year record of 25–5 (1978 season 6–4, 1979 season 9–1, 1980 season 10–0), were consistently ranked in the Top Ten and won 2 PAC conference titles. A two-way player (Running Back & Linebacker), King was an Indiana North-South All-Star, winning MVP honors. He was tapped as an All-Region, All-State and All-American; spurning offers from the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes, he accepted a scholarship to play football for Jim Young and study engineering at Purdue University.
Following his collegiate career, he was awarded the Rabold Award from the Indiana Football Coaches Association for "Excellence in College Football," joining the ranks of other award winners such as Mark Herrmann, Rod Woodson, Darrick Brownlow, Kevin Hardy, Roosevelt Colvin, Jay Cutler and Anthony Spencer. [3]
A multi-sport athlete, he helped led the Patriots to their first (of 11) IHSAA Sectional Titles during the 1979-80 basketball season. He also lettered in baseball and track & field.
In 2022, he was selected for induction into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame. [4] [5]
King attended Purdue University for four years; he was selected as Captain for his senior season and helped lead Purdue to the 1984 Peach Bowl, during which he led the Boilermakers in total offense. He averaged 5.6 yards per attempt; totaling over 1,100 yards and scoring 7 touchdowns during his Purdue career before graduating in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in management. He was a 3-year starter, blocking for future NFL great Mel Gray and Jim Everett. Fellow offensive backfield teammates were future Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rodney Carter, Eric Jordan of the Oakland Invaders and Ray Wallace of the Houston Oilers and Pittsburgh Steelers . [6]
King was drafted by the Oakland Invaders of the USFL in the 8th round of the 1985 draft but chose to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL, having been taken by the Chiefs in the 5th round of the NFL draft, as the 126th player taken overall. [7] King started 6 games as a rookie fullback with the Chiefs, gaining 83 yards. He was traded to the Buffalo Bills 4 games into the 1986 season. He spent the entire 1987 season with the Bills, gaining 28 yards in 2 starts. After the end of the 1987 NFL players strike and a try-out with the Miami Dolphins, he retired from professional football.
Daryle Pasquale Lamonica was an American professional football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. Lamonica was drafted by the NFL Green Bay Packers in round 12 with the 168th overall pick. He spent his first four seasons mostly as a backup for the Buffalo Bills, who selected him in the 24th round of the 1963 AFL Draft. Lamonica played his next eight seasons as the primary starter of the Raiders, including after they joined the NFL through the AFL–NFL merger.
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Lorenzo LaVonne Neal is an American former football fullback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons. Neal played college football for the Fresno State Bulldogs and was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 1993 NFL draft. A four-time Pro Bowl selection and three-time All-Pro, he was also a member of the New York Jets, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Tennessee Titans, the Cincinnati Bengals, the San Diego Chargers, the Baltimore Ravens and the Oakland Raiders. Considered one of the best blocking fullbacks in NFL history, Neal blocked for a 1,000-plus-yard running back in eleven straight seasons from 1997 to 2007.
Michael L. Pruitt is an American former professional football player who was a fullback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1976 to 1986. He was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 1976 NFL Draft and spent nine seasons with that club. He had five seasons with over 1,000 rushing yards and was selected to play in the Pro Bowl in 1979 and 1980. He also played for the Buffalo Bills for four games in 1985 and for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1985 and 1986. In his NFL career, Pruitt appeared in a total of 152 games, gained 7,378 rushing yards and scored 56 touchdowns.
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