Former Kansas City Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt signed a one-day contract with the team on Wednesday, allowing him to officially retire as a Chief.
Colquitt played in 17 NFL seasons — 15 of them in Kansas City — making him the longest-tenured player in franchise history. He played his final game as a member of the Cleveland Browns in Week 11 of 2021.
Reflecting on his long career, Colquitt told reporters he felt blessed “to be in these halls for a long time.”
But more recently, he’s been working for his alma mater.
“I’ve been busy the last two years,” he explained, “coaching at Tennessee on that special teams staff — with kickers, punters, snappers [and] holders.”
Still, Colquitt said he misses playing in Arrowhead Stadium on game days.
“It’s like a religious experience,” he observed.
To mark his retirement, the Chiefs gave Colquitt a cheeky send-off gift: a jersey with the name Colquitter on the back — which the former punter called a “clever” gift.
He said as a punter, his goal was to make opposing teams drive the length of the field — and to that end, he dropped 483 of his punts inside the 20-yard line. That’s why Kansas City special teams coordinator Dave Toub called him “the best inside-the-20 punter I’ve ever had.”
“I’ve had a lot of good ones over the years,” Toub continued, “and he just had a special skill for placing that ball inside the 20. He did it effortlessly — [with] wind [or] no wind; it didn’t matter.”
And on Wednesday, Colquitt proved he still has that magic leg. His single ceremonial punt during the team’s OTA practice came off his left foot with his trademark wobble — and died inside the 5-yard line.
But according to Toub, Colquitt might have been a better prankster than punter, calling him “probably the biggest practical joker I’ve ever seen.”
“He had pictures of a mountain lion on a trail cam,” recalled Toub of one of his punter’s stunts. “It wasn’t his trail cam, but he has trail cams back there.”
It was enough to convince Colquitt’s teammates that a dangerous predator lived behind the team facility, causing them to be on the lookout when walking to and from their cars.
During one training camp, the Chiefs’ staff was performing bed checks and found Colquitt in the nude.
“I would fall asleep at nine because I’m exhausted from all week,” he said of the incident, “so I’d be like, ‘Do not knock on my door.’ Well, they’d come in and say ‘Colquitt’ — and open the door to make sure [I was] physically there.
“So I would just be naked. I stopped getting checked — [but] it wasn’t anything personal.”
Then Colquitt grinned.
“Well, some of it was,” he added. “It was more of, ‘I want to sleep, finally.’ And so guys would come in — and I’m like, ‘If you come in, you know what you’re getting into.’”
During most of his Kansas City career, Colquitt saw many great Chiefs come and go without winning a championship — players like running back Jamaal Charles, linebacker Derrick Johnson and pass rusher Tamba Hali.
Fortunately, Colquitt wasn’t one of them. He stuck around just long enough to help his team win its first Super Bowl in 50 years, defeating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV.
But that wasn’t his favorite moment with the team. That was the game before, when Kansas City captured its first Lamar Hunt Trophy in the stadium he had built — as his son and grandchildren watched.
“[I was] watching [Clark’s] kids,” he recalled, “that I used to carry on the sidelines and hug for good luck — now grown and appreciating it.”
Colquitt was a legitimate special-teams weapon — capable of flipping the field with a booming 70-yard punt or pinning opponents deep in their own territory. He was also an excellent holder — and a beloved member of the community.
No one deserves Wednesday’s send-off more than he does.
