The Broncos were gifted Marquette King... and it may be a sign of things to come

As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

That saying especially true when ‘Man A’ is too picky about his treasure.

Earlier this month, the Denver Broncos stuck special teams gold after the Oakland Raiders released punter Marquette King—one of the best in the NFL—with many reports circling of King’s personality “not clicking” with Gruden’s.

That’s all fine and good, those things happen, but there’s just one problem.

“I never got a chance to talk to him,” King told Denver media after signing with the Broncos last week. “I just saw him on car commercials and stuff.”

Hard to know much about a guy’s personality without ever talking to him, no? Isn’t that the whole point of this long, drawn-out draft process with senior bowl visits, combine visits and pre-draft visits? Going by what you see with your own eyes, not what you hear or what you think you know?

Sounds like this was a bit of an odd attempt at a power move.

If Jon Gruden really let go of a legitimate special teams weapon because he dances on the field and has drawn three personal fouls in his five-year career, he’s in for a rough go of things as a coach in 2018.

“The cool thing about the Broncos is the people that work at the Broncos encourage you to be yourself,” King said. “That’s real cool. Players play a lot better when they can let their hair down and be themselves. It’s cool. They encourage it.”

It’s been 10 years since Gruden was a head coach in the league, and to put that into perspective for you, in 2008, as Gruden was coaching his fourth playoff-less team in six years, Apple had just released the second generation of the iPhone. Back in 2002, when Gruden won the Super Bowl—and also when he last won a playoff game—the world was still playing Snake on their Nokia 6100s.

Today, players and their phones have become a single entity. Social media has given every player their own brand and their personalities on and off the field have become a big part of those brands. For better or for worse, it’s up to the coaches to adapt, not an entire generation.

Suffice to say, things have changed. What worked in 2002, or even 2008—whether it be in regards to managing players or calling plays—is far from guaranteed to work in 2018.

Alas…

“Man, I’m trying to throw the game back to 1998,” Gruden said at the combine.

“There’s a stack of analytical data—or day-ta, however you want to say that word—and people don’t even know how to read it. It’s one thing to have the data—or day-ta. It’s another thing to know how to read the damn thing… I’m not going to rely on GPSes and all the modern technology. I will certainly have some people that are professional that can help me from that regard, but I still think doing things the old-fashioned way is a good way. We’re going to try to lean the needle that way a little bit.”

Antiquated view of player management, antiquated view of available information. Tell me I’m not the only one who sees this runaway train already heading for a sharp curve in the tracks.

In January the Raiders inked Gruden to a 10-year deal worth $100 milion—yes $100 million—and at the time the hiring actually looked like a home run to many. Just three months later, it feels like the fact that head coach contracts are guaranteed in the NFL could turn out to be a very harsh reality for Oakland in the long term.

While the rest of the league—including Denver—is constantly evolving and trying to innovate, Gruden is preaching the old-fashioned way. This just isn’t going to work.

Thanks to the NFL’s new old head, the Broncos just got one of the best punters in the NFL. If you ask me, it won’t be the last time the Broncos—and the rest of the AFC West—benefit from the Raiders’ grasp for relevance.