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“He’s an awesome punter,” Medlock, one of the CFL’s premier field-goal kickers, says of Leone. “He probably doesn’t want to talk about it, but he’s preparing himself for the NFL, perhaps as soon as next year. He’ll have a chance. No matter what, teams will be calling on him.”

Despite no apparent linkage — Medlock turns 33 in two weeks, Leone is 24; one played at UCLA, the other at Houston; and they have never been teammates before — the two specialists are as close as two rivals can be, forging a bond that is above and beyond the usual existence of kickers, regarded as outsiders in their own game.

A mutual friend put Leone in touch with the veteran Medlock, when the former was coming north to play for the Lions, so he could get the lay of the land and understand the different challenges posed by punting and kicking on the northern tundra. They hit if off right away, to the point where they’ve become BFFs and brothers from a different mother.

“We talk daily, we talk friendly, we talk competitively, we talk earnestly, we talk about anything,” Leone says. “Justin has an insane work ethic that really rubbed off on me. I really appreciate any time we have together.”

The two kickers, in fact, will join Medlock’s wife — former pro golfer Hannah Jun Medlock, a native of Los Angeles — for dinner on the eve of Saturday’s game between the Lions and Blue Bombers at Investors Group Field. It’s a contest that poses an extra amount of zest, not only because of its playoff implications, but because Medlock and Leone want to perform well under the scrutiny of each other.