Jan. 30, 2013
Texas Longhorns senior P Alex King and senior tight end D.J. Grant will participate in the Texas vs. The Nation postseason college football all-star game in Allen, Tex., on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 1:30 p.m. CT. The game will be played at Allen’s Eagle Stadium and will be televised live by FOX Sports Southwest.
The exhibition showcases top college seniors who played high school or college football in Texas against top players from around the nation hoping to be selected in the 2013 NFL draft.
King appeared in all 13 games this season for the Longhorns after transferring from Duke. In 2012, King averaged 45.3 yards per punt (fourth on the UT single-season list ) which would have ranked second in the Big 12 and ninth in the nation, but he did not have enough attempts to qualify (minimum 3.6 per game). He had 11 punts over 50 yards and 16 of his 43 (37.2 percent) have landed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. King helped UT rank tied for second in the nation with fewest touchbacks (1) and No. 4 in the FBS in net punting (40.8)
King was a first team All-Big 12 choice by the Dallas Morning News and Austin American-Statesman, a second team all-league selection by the Associated Press and San Antonio Express-News, and an honorable mention all-conference pick by the coaches. He shared the Frank Denius Special Teams MVP Award with D.J. Monroe.
King has played in 37 career games (13 at Texas/24 at Duke). At Duke he punted 111 times for 4,593 yards and had a 41.38 yards per kick average. He ranks fourth on Duke’s all-time chart for career punting average and also holds the ninth-highest single-season average in school history (42.08 in 2011). He was a 2011 second-team All-ACC pick.
Grant was a five-year player who appeared in 26 career games with six starts for Texas, after missing the 2009 and 2010 seasons with a knee injury. His three receiving touchdowns against UCLA in 2011 ranks him tied for the UT record for most touchdown receptions in a game by a tight end (Pat Fitzgerald vs Notre Dame, 1995; Pete Lammons vs Baylor, 1965). In 2012, he caught the game-winning one-yard touchdown pass from Case McCoy with 12 seconds left against Kansas, earning him honorable mention TE of the week honors from the College Football Performance Awards. Grant also caught a crucial 29-yard pass from David Ash on fourth-and-six to extend the game-winning drive against Oklahoma State.
For the season, Grant had 14 receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns. He was named to the 2012 CFPA Tight End Trophy watch list. Grant finished his career at Texas with 30 receptions for 305 yards and five touchdowns.
Grant was a member of UT’s Athletics Director’s Honor Roll (Spring 2010).
Former Dallas Cowboys star Bill Bates will coach the Texas team, while college football coaching legend Howard Schnellenberger will head The Nation squad.
Both coaches will wear wireless microphones and offer their insights during the telecast. Players also will be interviewed during the game, giving viewers an inside look at the future of the NFL.
The inaugural game in 2007 set a record for NFL signees in a first-year all-star game with 79 players signing NFL contacts. Since its inception, over 80 players who competed in the all-star game have been selected in the NFL draft and more than 400 have signed with an NFL team.
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