Nick Saban smirked at the last question of a 2014 preseason news conference.

A reporter was curious about the new punter who had just arrived from Colorado. He was only the third punter of the Saban era coming off a few good ones in P.J. Fitzgerald and Cody Mandell. Was a lanky freshman named JK Scott ready?

"He's the best punter we have," Saban said. "I mean, have you seen him punt? Well that one's an easy one. That's it? You guys are easy today."

It was soon clear why Saban was so confident. Scott would go on to have the first of two Ray Guy Award finalist seasons. Four years after that exchange, Scott finished his Alabama career with just about all the punting records while developing a cult fanbase.

It wasn't, however, so easy for Scott.

Now preparing for the NFL Draft, Scott revealed for the first time an injury that almost ended his football career. Tendonitis in both knees after his freshman and sophomore seasons made it painful to just walk, Scott said in an interview this week with AL.com.

"My knees were so bad I couldn't even walk up a step," Scott said. "It was so bad. My left knee got to a place where it was 38 percent degeneration of the tissue and my right knee was somewhere up there."

At the time, he remembered doctors and trainers telling him it wouldn't get better. It was a matter of managing the situation.

"I was like, alright God, I'm supposed to quit," Scott said. "I literally came to a place after my sophomore season that I'm done. I'm going to quit football. Right when I finally gave him football and I finally gave my heart to him, literally my knee started to heal."

Scott also changed his rehab routine and started working with Birmingham-based Kevin Wilk. The physical therapist and associate clinical director of Champion Sports Medicine has worked with the likes of Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson, Charles Barkley and Derek Jeter, according to his website.

The struggle Scott faced with his football future was an internal one.

"This actually something that I never really told anybody," Scott said. "I just thought about it. I came to the place on my own. I wasn't supposed to quit."

The whole issue was a result of how violently Scott planted his leg punting the football. It first became an issue after his breakout freshman season that saw him average 48.0 yards a punt. The pain kept him from the offseason training program.

"Sophomore year really took a dive because I wasn't able to train the right way," Scott said, "and I wasn't as prepared as I was going into my freshman, junior and senior years."

The punting average slipped to 44.2 yards per attempt in 2015. It started with an uncharacteristic 20-yard shank in the opener with Wisconsin in Arlington, Texas.

"So, yeah, it took a toll," Scott said with a growing grin. "But it's OK. We won the national championship that year."

The pain improved from there and his average jumped back to 47.2 yards as a junior. He was again a Ray Guy finalist as a senior even after his average dipped to 43.0 yards. Scott said he was more focused on hang time and limiting returns. It worked as no opponent recorded a punt return until LSU in Week 9.

Now, Scott is a few weeks from the NFL draft. He could be a late-round pick, according to NFL.com but will no doubt get a shot as a free agent if the phone doesn't get a call before the seventh round ends.

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter

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