Percy King’s Masterstroke

The 1998 Ohio State football team had stars everywhere.

Joe Germaine. David Boston. Antoine Winfield. Andy Katzenmoyer. Na’il Diggs.

This team was so stacked the backups probably would have been ranked in the top 10.

When they lost to Michigan State a little more than a month later, my 3-year-old daughter, blankie on her shoulder and thumb in her mouth, came into the living room to tell me we don’t say that word.

And, yes, she said the word. You can guess what it was.

But I digress.

Percy King probably isn’t one of the first names most Buckeye fans remember from that team.

But Penn State remembered him.

On Oct. 3, 1998, No. 7 Penn State came to Ohio Stadium to play the top-ranked Buckeyes.

Ohio State won 28-9.

The final score looks comfortable, but it wasn’t.

Penn State led 3-0 late in the second quarter before Jerry Rudzinski recovered a fumble in the end zone for Ohio State’s first touchdown.

Joe Germaine later hit Michael Wiley for another score, giving the Buckeyes a 14-3 halftime lead.

Then Percy King made his play.

Early in the third quarter, King broke through Penn State’s punt protection and blocked the kick.

Joe Cooper recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown, giving the Buckeyes a 21-3 lead.

John Cooper later singled out King’s blocked punt as one of the biggest plays of the game and awarded him five Buckeye leaves for it.

Not bad for a guy playing behind all those famous names.

King was a 6-foot-4 defensive back from Columbus Marion-Franklin who redshirted in 1995. He never became a full-time starter, but he kept finding ways to contribute.

Special teams was one of them.

King blocked three kicks during his Ohio State career. He also intercepted two passes and finished with 64 tackles in 39 games.

As a senior in 1999, he recorded 35 tackles, including 11 against Wisconsin and another 11 against Illinois.

King later signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2000 but decided before the season that football was over.

Then life went somewhere completely different.

He spent years working in sales before eventually becoming a full-time artist.

His work later appeared in the Columbus Museum of Art.

Funny how life works. One year you’re passionate about something, the next you’re pursuing entirely different interests.

At Ohio State, King was surrounded by guys who became football legends.

He wasn’t one of the biggest names and didn’t need to be.

Against Penn State, Ohio State needed somebody to make a play.

King got through the line and got his hand on the football.

Years later, people in Columbus would know him for something completely different.

But on Oct. 3, 1998, Percy King had a huge moment in Ohio Stadium.

And, as John Cooper later alluded, it was a masterstroke.