Shawn King (born June 24, 1972) is an American former professional

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player who was a

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in the

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(NFL)

for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

and

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

. He is best remembered for his numerous suspensions due to violating the NFL's drug policy. He was a 1994 First Team All IFA selection

NFL career

Shawn King was selected in the second round of the 1995 draft by the

. King's first drug violation came in 1995 during his rookie training camp after testing positive for

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

. King played in 13 games his rookie season and in all 16 games the following season. However, after testing positive again, King was suspended for the first six games of the 1997 season, only appearing in 9 games. After yet another positive test, King found himself suspended for the entire 1998 season. Prior to the 1999 season, King signed a three-year, $6 million contract with the

and started 8 of the team's first 9 games, but was suspended again (along with teammate

Tito Wooten Tito J. Wooten (born December 12, 1971) is a former American football safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts from 1994 to 1999. Palmer, Pete; Pullis, Ken; Lahman, Sean; Silverman, Matthew; G ...

), this time for four games due to showing up late to a meeting. The Colts later cut King and he was suspended yet again by the league for 12 months for another drug violation and missed the entire 2000 season. Though he was reinstated in January 2001, King chose to retire from the NFL citing the league's drug policy as a reason. After four season of retirement, King signed on to play with the

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Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The ...

for the

2004 AFL season The 2004 AFL season was the 108th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured si ...

, after which he left pro football for good.

NFL career statistics

Suspensions

Shawn King was active in the NFL for six seasons from 1995 to 2000. However, due to suspensions, King missed 42 games, including the entire 1998 and 2000 seasons. King retired from the NFL in January 2001 shortly after the league reinstated him due to his problems with the drug policy. *1995 - Placed in the NFL's intervention program after violating the NFL's drug policy *1997 - Suspended for six games during the 1997 season due to violating the NFL's drug policy *1998 - Suspended for the entire 1998 season due to violating the NFL's drug policy *1999 - Suspended for four games during the 1999 season due after missing bed check and showing up late to a team meeting *2000 - Suspended for the entire 2000 season after violating NFL's drug policy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Shawn 1972 births Living people American football defensive ends American sportspeople in doping cases Carolina Panthers players Indianapolis Colts players LSU Tigers football players Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football players Players of American football from Louisiana Tampa Bay Storm players West Monroe High School alumni 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Sportspeople from West Monroe, Louisiana