Kevin King felt like persona non grata in Green Bay following his struggles in the Packers' NFC Championship Game loss to Tampa Bay.
Those struggles included getting beaten by Mike Evans for a TD, infamously being burned deep by Scott Miller on a 39-yard TD late in the first half that turned the tide of the game, and getting called for a pass interference penalty that essentially ended the game.
With that backdrop, most expected the Packers to move on from the former second-round pick. But, instead, he re-signed with the club this offseason. The 26-year-old said he's using those lessons as fuel.
"Things like that, I don't know if you ever necessarily get over," King said, . "But it's a learning experience. ... You can use things to get better. You listen to all these guys who have the greatest success stories, they've all used those 'failures' as turning points. In their minds, as humans, it's kind of just evolving in that stage of life. ... I've challenged myself all offseason and continue to challenge myself to come out better from that situation, so 'failure,' that's just a word."
King could have looked elsewhere this offseason, but with the market not materializing for a corner who had dealt with injuries and struggled when on the field, he re-upped in Green Bay on a one-year, $6 million deal.
"I'm not the type of guy that just tries to sweep s--- under the rug, you know?" King said. "'All right, let me get a fresh start somewhere.' No. No. I want to finish this with my guys. The guys who've believed in me and the guys who continue to believe in me. And like I said, I'm going to do my part to uphold my side of the bargain. We're here to win a Super Bowl. And I just want to do my one-eleventh on defense, and that's what I'm here to do.
"But sweep it under the rug? Go to a new team? No. Of course, there's definitely some money that you couldn't turn down in terms of somebody trying to bring the Brinks truck out. It's all a business, of course. But if the money was all good, I was going to be a Packer, no doubt about it."
King dealt with a hamstring injury that kept him out the first two weeks of camp but still projects to be a major player in what looks -- on paper -- like a deep Packers secondary. King has reportedly begun to take first-team reps as he eases back into work ahead of Week 1.
"I think our value (of him) within our building is much higher maybe than public perception is out there," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said of King. "He's a guy I have a lot of faith, a lot of confidence, in. I think when he's healthy, he's really tough to deal with. His length when he challenges guys at the line of scrimmage and gets his hands on them, that's a tough matchup for most wide receivers."
