By Zachary Pike
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. – When you think of Auburn University, you think of family. And that's exactly what brought senior wide receiver Griffin King to Auburn. His older brother, Gray, played for the Tigers from 2013-15, and that relationship with his older brother was a major reason why King chose to attend Auburn as a preferred walk-on.
"My brother was recruited and was a preferred walk-on," said King, who hails from the Marist School in Atlanta. "He played for three years and at the start of my junior year of high school, I just started coming to every home game and wanted to follow in his footsteps."
Following in those footsteps is no easy task. As a walk-on in the SEC, all the hard work, sweat and the investment of time tend to go overlooked. The 6 a.m. workouts, running scout team every day at practice and the value that walk-ons provide often times go unnoticed. But for King, that hard work and determination finally paid off prior to the 2017 season.
"Going into my third season, I received a scholarship," King said. "It was a big deal for me and my family. That has been a goal of mine since I was a kid, and my scholarship got renewed again this year, which was a big deal, too."
Playing at an SEC school can be demanding, but it has its advantages as well. King has appeared in 16 games thus far in his career as an Auburn Tiger, which has led to some memorable moments thus far – especially playing at home inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"It's a really cool experience," King said. "There are over 80 thousand fans cheering for you and the team. Last year, the Alabama and Georgia games were crazy. (Playing in Jordan-Hare) is not like anywhere else."
The 5-foot-10, 179-pound wide receiver will always remember last year's game at Missouri, too. Not only did he get in the game, but he caught a touchdown pass from Malik Willis – the first of his career. The only problem was that it got called back because of a penalty.
"Even though the touchdown got called back due to a holding penalty, I got to celebrate and seeing the refs throw the hands up was pretty cool," King said.
As his time at Auburn draws to a close, there are several things King is going to miss from his days as a student-athlete on the Plains. One of the main things, though, will simply be living in a smaller town and spending time with friends.
"I'm planning to move to Atlanta after I graduate so it's just going to be so crazy all the time," King said. "I'm really going to miss the summer. Everything just slows down, and it's just you and the guys from the team hanging out. It feels like we have the town to ourselves."
Though he doesn't graduate until May, King – who has been recognized as an Academic Top Tiger – already has plans on what he wants to do after graduation.
"I'm a marketing major," King said. "I think I'm going to take a year off and try to take some science classes before going to dental school. I want to work in Atlanta and take night or online classes and eventually be a dentist."
Even after King graduates from Auburn and moves on, potentially back to Atlanta, the Auburn family will always hold a special place in the heart of the senior receiver.
"Everyone at Auburn is just so friendly," King said. "You can go around the world and see someone with an Auburn shirt or logo, and they will always reach out to you. 'War Eagle' is another form of hello."
Zachary Pike is a student assistant in Auburn athletics communications.