KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Eight seasons into his NFL career, Dustin Colquitt wasn’t sure what was next.
As the punter, Colquitt was one of the Chiefs’ best players — and despite his talents, that was part of the problem. The team had made just two appearances in the playoffs in his tenure, both resulting in short exits in the opening round. The 2012 season was a disaster. Head coach Romeo Crennel was fired after an embarrassing 2-14 season. The team had no clear future at the quarterback position. And Colquitt and his teammates had endured a traumatic experience, with linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shooting his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, before committing suicide at the team’s practice facility.
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Colquitt began 2013 in Hawaii; he was preparing for the Pro Bowl. That’s when the free-agent-to-be got a phone call from the Chiefs’ newest employee: coach Andy Reid.
In a series of questions, Reid wanted to see if he could convince Colquitt to re-sign with the Chiefs, even if it was one of the franchise’s lowest points in its history. Are you tired of Kansas City? Are you through with the organization? Do you need a fresh start? Where are you at mentally? Do you still want to play football for owner Clark Hunt?
“I love football,” Colquitt told Reid then. “I love Kansas City. All my kids (at the time) have been born (in KC). I want to stay.”
“Well, we want you here,” Reid responded. “Now go punt in the Pro Bowl.”
The two men had a longer, deeper conversation after the Pro Bowl, one that Colquitt feels transformed his career and help add luster to his place in Chiefs history. Colquitt re-signed with the Chiefs on March 4, 2013.
From that moment, Colquitt said Reid’s influence made coming to work no longer difficult. Colquitt wanted to see what Reid would sculpt the Chiefs into. Seven seasons later, Colquitt arrived in Miami with his teammates Sunday for the NFL’s grandest stage: the Super Bowl.
“I’ve seen how this team was put together,” Colquitt said last week.
He added of Reid: “He knows what pulls your strings and what motivates you. That’s what makes him different from a lot of people. He knows you. He spends that time off the field getting to know you better, and that breeds success. He knows that he’s not going to ask anything from that player that the player doesn’t already know is coming. That’s the accountability that he holds with us.”
His “intangibles” as a person are why Chiefs fans and many non-Chiefs fans alike will be rooting Sunday for Reid, the coach who, in his 21st season, is hoping to capture his first Vince Lombardi Trophy. And beyond their personal achievement, many in the Chiefs’ organization are hoping Colquitt, the team’s longest-tenured player, earns his first Super Bowl ring.
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Colquitt has appeared in the most games (238) of any player in franchise history, a mark he set in late September. He also has played in 186 consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak in the team’s history. Sunday’s game will be Colquitt’s 12th playoff game with the Chiefs, another team record.
Colquitt, 37, believes his loyalty to the Chiefs, and Reid, have extended his career longer than he anticipated when he agreed to stay with the franchise in 2013. Now in his 15th season, Colquitt plans to cherish every moment this week as the team prepares for its first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years. He is also aware that Sunday may be his final game in a Chiefs uniform.
“They could move on and go younger or want me to stay,” Colquitt said. “I’ve lasted 15 winters. During the AFC Championship Game, it’s hard to punt in that cold and wind. Right now, my sole focus is on doing everything I can from a punting and holding perspective.
“God takes care of (the future). He knows what jersey number I’m going to be wearing next year and where I’m going to be.”
15 seasons and over 1,000 punts. Congratulations @dustincolquitt2 👏 pic.twitter.com/cYjahgimXW
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) September 22, 2019
This season, for many reasons, has been a special one for Colquitt.
He began contemplating his football mortality before the Chiefs began training camp in St. Joseph, Mo. During camp, Colquitt wanted to receive autographs on his white Chiefs ball cap from children who attended the practices for his collection; that’s the best way for him to connect with fans. The season featured the Chiefs’ special teams experiencing several challenges, whether from an influx of younger players, botched snaps or miscues that led to a couple blocked punts. Colquitt has spent much of the season being an extra coaching assistant for special teams coordinator Dave Toub.
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But Colquitt has remained effective. He has averaged 40.3 net yards per punt, slightly above his career average. Colquitt has also been a calming presence for kicker Harrison Butker, who has made every field-goal attempt during the Chiefs’ impressive eight-game winning streak.
“I had never had a punter like him,” Toub said of Colquitt. “He was such a bomber, and he could really flip the field. I thought we could be really good with him (in 2013). We actually turned him into more of a directional guy, which I really think helped his career in the long run.”
In the past week, Colquitt has thought about how his career began. He entered the league in 2005 as the 99th overall pick in the third round of the NFL Draft, following in the footsteps of his father, Craig, who won two Super Bowls as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
When Colquitt arrived in Kansas City, his first coach was Dick Vermeil, a storyteller who showed his emotions — both screams and tears — to motivate his players. Vermeil retired after the 2005 season, a year in which the Chiefs missed the playoffs despite a 10-6 record. Colquitt has kept the business card that he received from Vermeil early in his rookie season: the coach’s business card with the Vince Lombardi Trophy featured on the opposite side of the information.
“This,” Vermeil told Colquitt, “is why we’re here.”
Colquitt looked at Vermeil’s business card last week and reflected on many of his former teammates, men who taught him how to take care of his body, even as a punter, to preserve his career. All the men who never reached the Super Bowl, like Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez. Or linebacker Derrick Johnson, the Chiefs’ all-time leader in tackles. Hall of Fame guard Will Shields. Guard Brian Waters. Center Casey Wiegmann. Hall of Fame tackle Willie Roaf.
“It’s fun looking back and seeing the guys I’ve gotten to play with,” Colquitt said. “I’d love to say, ‘God, he deserves to play in this game.’ I’m very fortunate right now. I’ve played with a thousand people here.”
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Colquitt believes that he’ll hug more than 100 former teammates this week before the Chiefs play the San Francisco 49ers.
He is also proud to represent them and the franchise beyond the field. Unlike last year, when he attended the Super Bowl as an ambassador for the Chiefs, Colquitt is one of just two players in the league who is his team’s nominee for the NFL’s prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year Award and preparing to play in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs nominated Colquitt for his community service with TeamSmile, a 13-year partnership that has resulted in almost 50,000 children receiving complementary dental and preventative care services.
Attending just one of our @TeamSmile events changes a child’s life forever!!!!
***Keep Tweeting**** @Chiefs #WPMOYChallenge Colquitt to help @TeamSmile start a child on a positive trajectory today!!! @NFL @NFLPA pic.twitter.com/BNlwl1vDg2
— Dustin Colquitt (@dustincolquitt2) January 11, 2020
“He’s just a great spokesperson for, really, the whole team,” Toub said of Colquitt.
One of Colquitt’s favorite games in his career occurred Sept. 15, 2013.
The Chiefs hosted the Dallas Cowboys in Reid’s first home game at Arrowhead Stadium. As the underdogs, Colquitt marveled at how well Reid led the Chiefs to a 17-16 upset victory. After the game, Colquitt’s son, Brinkley, ran to him in celebration. Before Reid’s arrival, Colquitt said that all Brinkley knew of the Chiefs were their many losses.
“That’s the day Brinkley fell in love with football,” Colquitt said of his 13-year-old son. “We end up winning and go on a nine-game winning streak — and that’s all that he remembers now. He just kept saying, ‘This is awesome.’”
Colquitt punted the ball just three times in the Chiefs’ last game, their thrilling, comeback victory over the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game. Colquitt said the scoreboard showed just 1:38 left in the fourth quarter when he decided to turn his back to the field and look up into the stands inside Arrowhead to see fans celebrate. The scene made him emotional.
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A few minutes later, Colquitt had tears welling up in his eyes as he watched Hunt accept the shiny silver trophy named after Lamar Hunt, his father and the man who founded the Chiefs.
“Clark Hunt has made some very big decisions that have rapidly altered the trajectory of where this organization is headed,” Colquitt said. “You know he’s thinking about his dad when (the trophy) touched his hands. It was cool that it finally happened. It’s fun to look up on the stage, after being here for 15 years, and seeing confetti going everywhere. It was surreal.”
50 YEARS IN THE MAKING! pic.twitter.com/Sq1VOFKdRP
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 20, 2020
The longest hug Colquitt received on the field after the game came from Brinkley, who placed his head on his father’s chest and cried tears of joy.
“That’s kind of just, ‘Oh my God, finally, we did it,’” Colquitt said of Brinkley. “He feels just as much a part of it just like everybody in this city right now.”
Colquitt hopes to have a similar embrace with his son after the biggest game of his long, endearing career.
(Photo: Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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