INDIANAPOLIS – Marquette King's first memory of Pat McAfee is how many view the eclectic punter of the Indianapolis Colts.
"He had on some bright green shorts with a plaid vest," King says, painting quite the vivid picture.
"It didn't match at all. No swag, but I guess his personality made it swag."
Don't get it confused.
Bringing swag to the punter position is something McAfee feels he was already doing.
"I think I brought swag to the punting position a long time ago," McAfee says.
But the Colts Pro Bowl punter acknowledges that King, his good friend, has ramped up that attention in 2016.
"I love the hype and appreciation that he's brought for punters," McAfee says of his opposing punter this weekend.
"It's good for punters. It's good for my peers. So I'm a big fan for Marquette King."
The friendship of King and McAfee began several years ago up in Wisconsin.
Attending Kohl's kicking camp at the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, King first spotted the plaid-vest wearing McAfee.
King, a former collegiate wide receiver, was still in the early stages of learning just how to punt.
That's where he sought out McAfee for advice.
"Kicking-wise the part that I took from him was to not be so technical," King says.
"You see a lot of punters get really technical, thinking maybe they need to take a six-inch or three-foot step with my right foot. He just gets the ball and rips it and that is the part that I took from him. Not to be so hard on yourself."
The free-flowing attitude these two have in kicking also continue once the play is over.
Both have seen their names trending on Twitter this season following some memorable celebrations post-punt.
On Tuesday, the Indy media spoke on a conference call with King. Each week, the visiting media can request one opposing player to speak with ahead of that week's game.
Requesting a punter is rare. Really rare.
So is King
"The king is here," is how Marquette answered Wednesday's call.
That was just the beginning.
Asked about McAfee saying that King has him in the looks department, the Oakland punter was not shy in his response.
"You already know that, best looking punter in the league right here," the not so bashful King said. "Your boy has the looks. It can't get any better than that.
But what about McAfee and those 600,000 followers of Indy's punter?
"I will tell you one thing, I will never joke with him on social media. He is a professional comedian. That is like me telling Pat to get on the Xbox and play Call of Duty with some professional gamers during the daytime while everybody else is supposed to be at work because that is when the best people play. I can't mess with him."
Shifting into a serious mode at his own media session on Tuesday, McAfee was extremely complimentary of King's future at punter.
The 28-year-old King is beginning to make a name for himself as one of the league's better punters.
McAfee believes in a couple years King will be the NFL's best punter.
"It means a whole lot," King says of McAfee's praise.
"McAfee, Thomas Morstead and Tim Masthay were the three punters that I watched closely when I was coming out of college. They were definitely huge role models for a lot of punters so it means a whole lot to me, especially him being my friend and one of the best punters in the league. It means a lot and that is definitely a blessing coming from him."
When fourth down rolls around in most NFL games, fans often tune the play out.
But for this Week 16 matchup, the punting game will be must-watch television for sure.
"It is definitely revolutionizing the position," King says of the attention brought by him and McAfee. "McAfee has always been entertaining. He is a really funny dude. I have worked with him during some off-seasons and have gotten a chance to hang out with him. He has always been like that. It is cool to have an entertaining punter to watch like him.
"Just knowing me and him and both of our personalities, I think we are going to entertain each other pretty good (Saturday). It is going to be an interesting day."
