For the Love of the Game
D’Eriq King played his first football game at four years old, and he has been playing the game ever since. Now 22, King attends the University of Houston and is a leader and captain of the UH football team. Growing up in Texas, football is a big deal. There are top football programs all over the state, and high school football is an occasion like no other. Known to his friends and family as “DJ”, King’s dreams of playing Division 1 football started to come to fruition when he was 14, just a freshman in high school.
“My first letter was from Nebraska University, I was happy, excited and shocked. It was my moment of ‘wow. I can really go D1’” King said.
Nebraska was not the only school interested in King. Playing at Manvel High School, King and his high school team attracted a lot of attention from college football coaches. The Manvel Mavericks made it to the state semifinals three years in a row. There were 23 seniors on the 2016 Manvel team, and 19 of them received offers to play football at the collegiate level, out of those 19, 17 attended a Division 1 university. “Basically every college in the country used to come to our games and practices, it was insane,” King said. Two of King’s high school teammates, Deontay Anderson and Jordan Carmouch, attend UH as well. “It’s great to play with D’Eriq again, he’s an amazing player but an even better guy. One of the best people I’ve ever been around,” Anderson said.
D’Eriq King played his first football game at four years old, and he has been playing the game ever since. Now 22, King attends the University of Houston and is a leader and captain of the UH football team. Growing up in Texas, football is a big deal. There are top football programs all over the state, and high school football is an occasion like no other. Known to his friends and family as “DJ”, King’s dreams of playing Division 1 football started to come to fruition when he was 14, just a freshman in high school.
“My first letter was from Nebraska University, I was happy, excited and shocked. It was my moment of ‘wow. I can really go D1’” King said.
Nebraska was not the only school interested in King. Playing at Manvel High School, King and his high school team attracted a lot of attention from college football coaches. The Manvel Mavericks made it to the state semifinals three years in a row. There were 23 seniors on the 2016 Manvel team, and 19 of them received offers to play football at the collegiate level, out of those 19, 17 attended a Division 1 university. “Basically every college in the country used to come to our games and practices, it was insane,” King said. Two of King’s high school teammates, Deontay Anderson and Jordan Carmouch, attend UH as well. “It’s great to play with D’Eriq again, he’s an amazing player but an even better guy. One of the best people I’ve ever been around,” Anderson said.
After countless visits, phone calls, and letters from various Power Five schools, King decided to commit to the University Of Houston. Once he was at Houston, King made an immediate impact to the team. A quarterback in high school, King decided he would do whatever it took to get on the field and help his team. His freshman year, he switched to playing wide receiver, while also still practicing at quarterback. In addition to receiver, he was also on special teams as punt returner and kick returner. In the 2016 game against Texas State, King became the first player in UH history to score three different ways in one game. King caught, threw, and returned a punt for a touchdown all in one game.
Sophomore year, King was battling for the starting quarterback spot. King, Kyle Allen, and Kyle Postma were going back and forth in practice, trying to determine who would be QB1. Unfortunately for King, during a preseason practice, King suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee, giving the QB spot to Allen. After missing the first three games, and with Allen locked in at quarterback, King returned to playing receiver. Even though he missed three games, King quickly became the teams leading receiver. After shakey quarterback play from both Allen and Postma, King finally got his opportunity to show his skills at QB. Week seven versus South Florida, King started at receiver, after the Coogs fell behind 14–0, King was told he was going in at QB. “I hadn’t taken any reps at quarterback since I had gotten hurt, I was strictly playing receiver, when they told me to warm up I was confused because I had been playing the whole game. I didn’t know they meant to start throwing,” King said. King led the Coogs back to win the game 24–21. The win sealed King in as the starter for the rest of the season.
King recorded a historic junior year. King was responsible for 50 touchdowns, which broke the American Athletic Conference record. King’s name was in consideration as a possible contender for the Heisman and there was a chance for the Coogs to win a conference championship. However, in game 10, King suffered a season ending injury, another torn meniscus, this time in his right knee. By the end of the season, King was still in the top 10 in all quarterback stats, despite being at a disadvantage of having three less games than those above him. “It was disappointing because I wonder where my stats would have compared if I had been able to finish out the season, but I believe that everything happens for a reason,” King said.
King’s senior season did not go how he or anyone believed it would. After breaking the NCAA record for consecutive games with a rushing and passing touchdown, with 14, news broke that King was going to redshirt and sit out the rest of the 2019 season. The news went viral. King received phone calls from multiple news agencies wanting a statement, they talked about his decision on ESPN. He even received a call from Kirk Herbstreit, a well-respected sports analyst for ESPN. “It was a crazy couple of days. I couldn’t believe how much it blew up. Everyone had an opinion, but at the end of the day I feel like it was the best decision for me and my future.” King said.
Football fans everywhere are now waiting to see if King is going to stay at the University of Houston or transfer to a bigger program. “Houston is my home. I grew up here, my family is here,” King said when asked if he was leaving. While it is still unknown what King is going to do for his final season of college football, one thing is clear, King is a leader, a playmaker, and makes an impact every time he steps on the field.
