"It's crazy. In as little as 24 hours, I probably would have been back in the CFL," Medlock said. "We were negotiating and were probably within five thousand dollars. To think I was that close to going back to the CFL, that will be something to look back to if I make it in the NFL, because I would have been 31 before I got out of that contract.

"If I make it here, that will be a story."

Medlock was a first-team All-American for UCLA as a senior. The Chiefs drafted him, and within a month they traded Lawrence Tynes to the New York Giants to pave the way.

After Medlock's NFL debut, however, the Chiefs waived him.

"It was a bad thing to happen – my path would have been a whole lot different – but it's actually the best thing that ever happened to me as a kicker," Medlock said. "I needed to go through some downs before I went up, because I needed to learn that some of the stuff I was doing wasn't right.

"For a good three to five months, I was pretty messed up, didn't really know what was going on. I think every kicker has been like that at some point."

Coincidentally, Medlock began his long path back with the help of another new Panther – punter Nick Harris. Both are natives of the San Francisco Bay area, and Harris also was waived shortly after being drafted.

Harris, however, is now a veteran of 11 NFL seasons who is currently competing with Brad Nortman – the Panthers' 2012 sixth-round draft choice – for Carolina's punting job.

Medlock and Harris first crossed paths when Medlock was in high school and attended a camp that Harris – already an established NFL punter at that point – was working.

"He's a true professional when it comes to how to act on the field and off the field," said Medlock, whose relationship deepened with Harris during the offseason after the Chiefs released him. "I really learned from him, and that's something I really needed at the time.

"I really needed some guidance because I was going the opposite way with everything. I needed to simplify things and make things sharper."

Through the years, Harris has seen Medlock undergo significant changes – from a confident kicker in high school and college to an overwhelmed kicker as an NFL rookie and now to a fully matured kicker.

"When he first came out, he had all the tools, but as far as games and really being able to focus in, he's night and day from where he used to be," Harris said. "The Canadian league has really done wonders for him. He's become a student of the game. He studies the best guys in the NFL."

Medlock, now 28, is focused on becoming one of the best guys in the NFL. After talking to more than 20 NFL teams and working out for more than a dozen since the Chiefs cut him, he believes his time may at long last have arrived.

"I've had some unlucky things happen, but I'm ready to change my luck," Medlock said. "I haven't kicked a field goal in the NFL since 2007. Some people think, 'Whatever. He's been released a thousand times.' But from 2007 to now, I'm a whole different kicker.