Loverro: A journeyman on the field but always a ‘King’ off it

Thirty years ago, Montgomery County businessman Tony Puca held a New Year’s Eve party attended by some of the biggest movers and shakers in the state.

About an hour past midnight, royalty arrived. King Corcoran walked through Puca’s door and announced: “The party can begin. The King is here.”

Somewhere, the party is getting started because the King has arrived.

Former Maryland quarterback Jimmy “King” Corcoran died of a heart attack last month in Takoma Park at age 65.

He wasn’t the greatest quarterback in Maryland football history - he didn’t even start much of his time there, playing backup to Dick Shiner and Alan Pastrana. But he made his mark when he did get a chance to play, beating Navy and Roger Staubach 27-22 in the 1964 Crab Bowl Classic.

King became a legend as the quarterback of the minor league football Pottstown Firebirds, profiled by NFL films in an award-winning documentary in 1970.

And he spent time briefly with the Boston Patriots, New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles, along with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League and Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League, among other entries on his football resume.

Corcoran was a journeyman on the field but larger than life off it. His life took him in many directions, all usually paved with good times.

“He was a charismatic guy and a fun guy to hang around with,” said Rick Brown, a real estate developer who counted King as a friend.

His death almost went unnoticed, but word spread among those who knew him. Some of them said goodbye Saturday at Silver Spring’s Masonic Temple.

Friends wrote tributes on the Terp Talk Web site to a unique character whose talent never quite matched his persona.

“As a perennial red shirt, I never caught a pass or took a handoff from the ‘King,’ ” Mike Kildea wrote. “But that didn’t stop him from driving me around in former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s used limo - complete with siren and bull horn. Who knows how Jimmy got the car, but then again, he was the King!”

“I remember my sophomore year… King was next to me on the bench with sunglasses on - just being the King,” Art Brzostowski wrote. “I remember when Coach [Tom] Nugent asked Jim if he was well dressed for the [Penn State] game on TV. King said, ‘Wear the Chesterfield coat’ - he did. I remember the bull horn and him telling [Joe] Namath in the Jets’ training camp that HE was the king. We lost a great teammate and friend. RIP Jimmy. You’ll always be the King.”

He was, you might say, a poor man’s Namath. He had a style that attracted attention and welcomed those who wanted to be part of the King’s court.

It takes a certain flair to walk around with a name like King. Go ahead. Put “King” in front of your last name and see how it sounds. Pretty cool.

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