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SportsPulse: Despite countless counter narratives that the NFL fails, the first week proved that the league can still attract massive audiences and captivate the country. Trysta Krick explains.
USA TODAY & # 39; HUI

Hunter Marquette King said he signed this season with the Denver Broncos because of the "revenge factor" – an opportunity to play with his former team, the Oakland Raiders, and the coach who snapped it cut, Jon Gruden. year.

But questioned about Sunday's match between the two teams and the opportunity to face Gruden for the first time, King was shy.

"Who is it?" King said Mike Klis of KUSA, a Denver TV channel. "I do not know who you're talking to."

But he can not wait to face the Raiders, right?

"I'm looking forward to every game," said King.

More: USA TODAY Sports' Choice of NFL Week 2: AFC's Rematch Game Match, Giants-Cowboys Among Highlights

More: NFL NFL Week 2: Will the Packers call on Aaron Rodgers?

King, who was a second-team pro in 2016, signed a three-year contract with Denver this spring after being released by the Raiders. His departure took place a few months after Gruden, the TV analyst, got a massive contract to join the Raiders and return to the sidelines this year.

King said that he had never even had the opportunity to meet Gruden before his release. NFL Network reported that the Raiders cut him in part because of his salary (he was to earn more than $ 2 million in 2018), but also that the organization thinks the punter must show more than maturity on the ground.

The 29-year-old king said after being introduced in April that the Broncos had embraced his personality.

"What's cool with the Broncos is the people working at the Broncos who encourage you to be yourself," he said. "It's really cool, the players play a lot better when they can drop their hair and be themselves, that's cool."

Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

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