On one hand, Shayden King missed not playing a sport for the first time since he could remember. On the other hand, the Big Timber native enjoyed every second of spending this last fall hunting more than he could ever remember.
King was part of the standout senior class at Sweet Grass County High that also produced current Montana State tight end Ethan Bullock and champion sprinter Casey Gunlikson, who is now running track for the Bobcats.
After graduating in the spring of 2019, King had some options to play football, mostly in the Frontier Conference. But personal uncertainty lingered throughout the summer. When Montana State presented the option of grey shirting, King learned the process. Once he understood it, he knew he couldn’t pass up a chance to join the college football team he grew up rooting on.
So King did not go to school or play football last fall. Instead, he worked on the ranch his family manages, worked on his truck and tracked animals in the mountains. In other words, he lived his version of the good life.
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“It was honestly pretty nice,” King said earlier this month. “I drew a 580 bull tag, which is a special draw tag up in the Crazy Mountains right by where I live. And I got to go on a goat hunt with my dad. It was a lot of fun.
“But not having football in the fall made me pretty crazy.”
Monday, Montana State starts classes for the spring semester. King will join the MSU student body and the MSU football team. The 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive lineman will have four academic years to finish his undergraduate degree. If he does, he will earn the fifth season of football eligibility back that he sacrificed in the fall semester.
“They were recruiting me throughout my senior year but I had a tough time picking schools,” King said. “I don’t really know how the grey shirt deal came up. But I was glad they came up with that.
“(Former MSU offensive line coach) Josh Taufalele was one of the main guys and (director of high school operations) B.J. Robertson was the one who came into my high school. It was a lot of fun when B.J. came because we got to b.s. about a lot of stuff. And he hyped up the school, which I liked. That made me want to be a Bobcat for sure.”
King’s father is the extension agent for Montana State in Big Timber and he was the livestock judging coach for 15 years. Both King’s parents are MSU alumni.
“When they actually offered me a spot, it was a dream come true,” King said. “Mom and dad were actually talking about that the other day. It’s pretty cool.”
As a senior in high school, King anchored an offensive line for a team that was one of the best in Montana Class B. The Sheepherders won their district and advanced to the state playoffs. Big Timber beat Florence-Carlton 30-0 and topped Colstrip 37-6 before falling 21-6 to Missoula Loyola.
King earned first-team all-state honors as an offensive lineman and defensive tackle. He first landed on MSU’s radar the previous summer. Big Timber head coach JV Moody was unable to bring the Sheepherders to Montana State’s team camp. So King organized the trip to Bozeman for his team.
But Montana State did not offer King a spot until later on in his senior year following the football season.
“We kind of got on him a little late, in fact late enough that we didn’t announce him, but we decided that it made sense for him to be part of this class (of 2020),” Montna State head coach Jeff Choate said on December 22 in a press conference addressing the opening of the early signing period.
“He’s a big-bodied guy who had a really good high school career and fits exactly what we’re looking for in terms of having a lot of big, strong offensive linemen who have the opportunity to compete and develop.”
Robertson, who is Montana State’s primary in-state recruiter, identified King’s potential early on.
“This is a guy who wanted to be a Bobcat,” said Robertson, who is also MSU’s special teams coordinator. “His parents are both Bobcats. At the time he graduated, offensive line is such a developmental position and we are graduating some guys but worked out best was to ask him to grey shirt. He wanted to do whatever to be a Bobcat.
“Playing here was always his dream. Now we have a roster spot for him. Talk about a weight room junky.”
Following the 9-win 2018 campaign, King did get solid opportunities from across the Frontier Conference. Montana Tech, Montana Western, Montana State Northern and Rocky Mountain College all expressed strong interest.
He considered Western particularly because his sister, Mesa King, is a sophomore on the Lady Bulldogs women’s basketball team. He also received late interested from Montana, but said that he dad “would disown me if I moved to Missoula.”
Choate and his staff came through with the late offer and it was too much for King to pass up.
“It’s been awesome seeing all the stuff Coach Choate has brought in,” King said. “It’s really cool to see how he’s taken Montana recruits into MSU. You see programs who have a lot of out of state kids coming in and I like the fact that he likes the Montana boys to come in.”
King is certainly a Montana boy. He acknowledged that he thinks his background with agricultural roots gives him a boost when it comes to the discipline it takes to play college football.
“I’m not going to say a rancher or a farmer is a lot tougher. But there’s a different kind of tough I feel like,” he said.
King played his senior year at 260 pounds. He got up to as heavy as 290 pounds during the spring. But he will report to MSU’s winter conditioning this month at about 265 pounds.
“I feel like I’m in pretty good shape from all the hiking and hunting and working out I did this fall,” King said.
Winter conditioning is dreaded by many. But not King. He said “it will be fun”, mostly because he’s ready to be part of a team again. And being a part of the Bobcat team is something he’s wanted for most of his life.
“I think it’s going to be awesome,” King said. “I can’t wait to get there and start playing. It’s going to be amazing. This is what I’ve dreamed for my whole life and now the dream is coming true. I just have to continue with it, keep my mind right and keep going with it.”
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Photos by Brooks Nuanez or contributed by King. All Rights Reserved.
