Born in Paris, Tennessee, King was the youngest of seven sons. He played football, basketball, baseball, and ran track at Grove High School. He obtained the nickname "Chick" as a boy. Years later, he told a reporter, "I don\'t know how I got it, but I was young. And it has been with me ever since." As a senior, he was named to the All-American high school football team. In August 1950, King appeared in the All-American high school football game and ran 91 yards for a touchdown on the opening play of the second half. He initially signed to attend the University of Georgia, but he was ruled ineligible by the Southeastern Conference after an investigation of "scholarship inducements." He opted instead to attend Memphis State College where he was a star football player in 1950. He also competed in basketball, baseball and track at Memphis State.\n', '

In April 1951, he signed with the Detroit Tigers to play professional baseball. Memphis State football coach Ralph Hately complained at the time, "It\'s a terrible condition when guys can come on your campus and lure your athletes away from their college educations. It isn\'t fair for major league clubs to pull a stunt like this."\n', '

King played in Detroit\'s farm system from 1951 to 1954. In late August 1954, he was playing for the Buffalo Bisons, the International League team affiliated with the Detroit Tigers when two Detroit outfielders, Bill Tuttle and Al Kaline were injured. King was called up to the Tigers and made his Major League Baseball debut on August 27, 1954. Following his debut against the New York Yankees, The Sporting News called King "a towering 190-pounder" and a "swift outfielder" who had stolen 31 bases for Buffalo. He appeared in 25 games for the Tigers between 1954 and 1956.\n', '

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