UM’s King honored again Defensive end preparing for professional football

For Matt King, the 2005 season was an exercise in frustration and disappointment.

The University of Maine defensive end suffered two serious finger injuries, one on each hand, that forced him to miss all but three games.

A year later, the cordial co-captain from Stoughton, Mass., is enjoying one of the most celebrated seasons ever turned in by a Black Bears player.

King on Monday added another accolade to his already impressive list this season when he was named to The Sports Network Division I-AA All-America First Team.

The 6-foot-3, 242-pounder was the only Black Bear and one of eight Atlantic 10 players to receive first-team recognition.

“It has been great to get recognition this year,” King said Monday evening. “It shows how good of a defense we really did have.”

King, who finished six in the voting for the Buck Buchanan Award given to the top defensive player in Division I-AA, is coming off a season during which he was the Bears’ third leading tackler with 60.

He finished the season ranked third in I-AA in sacks per game (1.05) and was seventh in tackles for a loss (1.73 per game). He led the A-10 in both categories. King’s 11.5 sacks in 2006 were the second most in school history.

He also has been named a first-team All-American by The Associated Press and the American Football Coaches Association and Walter Camp Foundation. He was an All-Atlantic 10 first-team selection.

“To get on all those teams and be considered one of the best players in the nation is unreal,” King said. “Nobody really knew who I was coming into this year. I think I established myself on the national level and I hope to continue to stay there.”

King will return home to Massachusetts for the holidays, then will spend two weeks training at a facility called “Velocity” in Roswell, Ga. It was recommended to him by Stoughton High teammate Ryan LaCasse, who is now a backup defensive and special teams standout for the Indianapolis Colts.

King has begun making preparations to pursue a professional career, having signed with Brian Ayrault, a sports agent from Pittsburgh who also represents LaCasse.

King is scheduled to play in the inaugural Inta Juice North-South All-Star Classic on Jan. 13 in Houston.

“It’s going to be good to put the pads on once again and practice against guys you see on TV and I-A guys,” King said. “It will be good to show what I can do.”

Tailbacks Steve Baylark of Massachusetts and Alvin Banks of James Madison, along with Towson offensive lineman Jermon Bushrod, are the other A-10 players in the game.

He and several of his UMaine classmates have been working out several mornings a week in pursuit of their goals. King said it has been a blessing to work out with his teammates and also to have friends in the NFL, including LaCasse and former UMaine running back Montell Owens, who is with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“[Owens] went through it last year and he’s somebody great to talk to,” King said. “He’s got a foot in the door so he can tell people down there there’s some untapped talent up in Maine.”

UMaine senior safety Daren Stone is lined up to play in the Hula Bowl on Jan. 14 in Honolulu, while defensive tackle Mike DeVito is another player who received a lot of attention from NFL scouts during the season.

“We’re all working out together, all the seniors, and we’re all pushing each other,” King said.