He played college football for the Tulane Green Wave and was selected in the second round of the 1999 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
After graduating from Gibbs High School in 1995, King played college football at Tulane University from 1995 to 1998,[1] leading Tulane to an undefeated season and a win over Brigham Young University in the Liberty Bowl, in the process setting the then single-season NCAA Division I-A record for passing efficiency in 1998 of 183.3.
[6] With Eric Zeier nursing a rib injury, King was thrust into the starting quarterback role for the rest of the season.
[7] In the Divisional Round, they were matched against Washington Redskins, with King being the first rookie quarterback to start a postseason game since Todd Marinovich in 1991.
The Buccaneers led in the fourth quarter before an interception on a King pass gave the ball to St. Louis at Tampa Bay's 47.
St. Louis converted it into a go-ahead touchdown drive to give Tampa Bay an 11–6 deficit with under five minutes remaining.
King threw a pass to Bert Emanuel that was thought to be a catch at the 22-yard line before the officials decided to view a replay.
Four plays later, Tampa Bay scored the game-winning touchdown, the seventh lead change of the game, and clinched a playoff berth.
A win in week 17 would clinch a second consecutive division title and a first-round bye in the playoffs, potentially propelling Tampa Bay to their first Super Bowl appearance.
Rob Johnson started at quarterback, but struggled to lead the offense, which managed to tie the game at 9-9 late in the fourth quarter.
After a hard hit, Rob Johnson had to sit out a play on the final drive, prompting a cold-off-the-bench Shaun King to run in suddenly and throw an unexpected and decisive first down.
In 2004, King signed with the Arizona Cardinals as a free agent, he started only two games and was released at the end of the season.
In July 2008, King, working as an ESPN analyst, commented that it was "outside of normal" that recently released African-American NFL quarterbacks like Daunte Culpepper, Aaron Brooks, Byron Leftwich and himself were not signed to new teams.
In 2016, King joined the coaching staff of the South Florida Bulls a member of the American Athletic Conference.
King also works as an analyst next to play-by-play man Ben Wilson on the television broadcasts of the Vegas Knight Hawks of the Indoor Football League.