Haynes King is an NFL star.
That is, the Carolina Panthers undrafted rookie quarterback is an NFL star in early August after exactly one preseason game.
Sure, Thursday’s Pro Football Hall of Fame game between the Panthers and Arizona Cardinals was nothing more than a meaningless exhibition in which few, if any, actual starters played.
But NFL fans have been starving for any kind of action for almost six months, and King provided plenty of that during Carolina’s thrilling 33-30 victory in Canton, Ohio — especially on the final play of the game.
Even if his NFL career ends up going nowhere (more on that in a minute), the reigning Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year out of Georgia Tech will always have this spectacular, game-winning run for his highlight reel:
After former USC quarterback Kedon Slovis connected with receiver Bryson Green for a one-yard touchdown pass to give Arizona a 30-27 lead, King had 1 minute, 55 seconds remaining in regulation to lead the Panthers to a comeback win.
He completed four passes for 24 yards and also scrambled for 26 yards to help Carolina get to the Arizona 5-yard line with two seconds left on the clock. Haynes took the shotgun snap at the 10 and dropped back to the 14 before shooting up the middle, pump faking around the 7 and diving into the end zone for the game-winning score.
A massive endzone celebration ensued.
“I’ll tell you what, I couldn’t breathe,” King said afterward. “But it was amazing, just going out there and being able to celebrate with the guys that you’ve been OTAs, all training camp with, and busting your butt, and to finally go out there and celebrate with them and just showcase your talent is very fun.”
Franchise quarterback Bryce Young did not play. Veteran backup Kenny Pickett started the game and played three series before King took over. The 25-year-old rookie completed 21 of 34 passes for 180 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 39 yards with one touchdown on three carries.
“Haynes did a fantastic job,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said after the game, “just keeping the play alive, doing whatever he had to do, run it, throw it.”
After playing sparingly for three years at Texas A&M, King established himself as a dual threat at Georgia Tech over the last three seasons. During that time, King completed 67.6% of his passes for 7,907 yards with 55 touchdowns and 24 interceptions (including 16 during his first season with the Yellow Jackets). He also rushed for 2,277 yards and 36 touchdowns.
King performed well at the NFL scouting combine earlier this year, running the 40-yard dash in a blistering 4.46 seconds. Questions about his age and passing ability may have led teams to skip over King during the draft in April, but the Panthers snatched him up in free agency immediately afterward.
Kurt Warner and Warren Moon were undrafted quarterbacks who eventually landed in the Hall of Fame. Tony Romo and Jeff Garcia did pretty well for themselves as well. Will King be able to beat the odds like those guys?
His chances of making Carolina’s 53-man roster improved greatly last month when veteran backup quarterback Will Grier announced his retirement, which bumped King up to No. 3 on the depth chart.
More performances like he had Thursday night certainly won’t hurt King’s cause either. Take a look at his run during the final drive:
Again, it’s only preseason … but, man, he was awesome.
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