Eric King is an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 cornerback

Cornerback

A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...

 who is currently a free agent

Free agent

In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....

 He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL Draft

2005 NFL Draft

The 2005 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 23–24, 2005. The league also held an supplemental draft that year, which was held after...

. He played college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at Wake Forest

Wake Forest Demon Deacons football

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team represents Wake Forest University in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wake Forest plays its home football games at BB&T Field....

. King has also played for the Tennessee Titans

Tennessee Titans

The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...

, Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 and Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

.

Early years

King attended McDonogh School

McDonogh School

McDonogh School is a private, coeducational, K-12, college-preparatory school founded in Owings Mills, Maryland, USA in 1873.- History :The school was established near Baltimore, Maryland in 1873 and funded by the estate of John McDonogh, a former Baltimore resident, who died in 1850...

 in Owings Mills, Maryland

Owings Mills, Maryland

Owings Mills is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. The population was 20,193 at the 2000 census. Owings Mills is home to the northern terminus for the Baltimore Metro Subway and to Owings Mills Mall....

, and was a three-sport letterman in football

High school football

High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

, basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, and track

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

. In football, he won first team All-State honors, a first team All-Metro honors, first team All-County honors, and helped lead his team to four conference championships. As a senior, he had over 1,200 all-purpose yards

All-purpose yardage

All-purpose yards or All-purpose yardage is an American football and Canadian football statistical measure. It is virtually the same as the statistic that some football leagues refer to as combined net yards. In the game of football, progress is measured by advancing the football towards the...

 on offense

Offense (sports)

In sports, offense or offence , also known as attack, is the action of attacking or engaging an opposing team with the objective of scoring points or goals...

, and on defense he added 5 interceptions

Interception (football)

An interception, intercept or pick is a move in many forms of football, including Canadian and American football, as well as rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football and Gaelic football, which involves a pass, either by foot or hand, being caught by an opposition player, who usually...

, and 45 tackles

Tackle (football move)

Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....

. In basketball, he helped lead his team to three conference championships. In track, he was the private school champion in both the 100 meter dash

100 metres

The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...

 and the long jump

Long jump

The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...

. Father, Eric King, Sr. played basketball for the NAIA

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics is an athletic association that organizes college and university-level athletic programs. Membership in the NAIA consists of smaller colleges and universities across the United States. The NAIA allows colleges and universities outside the USA...

 national champions Coppin State Eagles

Coppin State University

Coppin State University is a historically black college located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is part of the University System of Maryland...

 in the mid 1970s and professionally in Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

.

King signed with the Cleveland Browns on November 16, 2010. He was cut by the Browns and picked up off waivers by the Detroit Lions on December 16, 2010. King was released by the Detroit Lions on February 10, 2011

External links

• Detroit Lions bio
• http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/nfl/wires/02/10/2020.ap.fbn.lions.king.0132/index.html