Whenever Dustin Colquitt of the Kansas City Chiefs gets together with his father, Craig, and brother, Britton, the talk inevitably rolls around to which members of this punting family have a Super Bowl ring, and which one doesn’t.
The conversation is never friendly to Dustin, who has played for the Chiefs for his entire 13-year NFL career. He’s the one without. Craig won two Super Bowl championships with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the late 1970s, Britton one for the Denver Broncos in 2015. He has since moved on to the Cleveland Browns.
“It’s not in a good-natured way," Dustin said about the family discussions about Super Bowl rings. “It’s just not. That’s definitely another one of the reasons why I wanted to be back and have a chance to do it here in Kansas City.
“They do hold it over my head and so we’ve got to complete that as a team. We have everything in this room, as coach (Andy) Reid and (general manager Brett) Veach say. They’re just trying to build on that and make us more competitive. So that’s the biggest thing they’ve brought to the table is they’re continuing to pump talent in, (acquiring) the best guys out there available and just trying to win a championship."
Colquitt recently re-signed with the Chiefs for three seasons and he’s now the oldest Chief in terms of age and years of service in Kansas City. The Chiefs’ oldest player after Colquitt, who turns 36 in May, is reserve linebacker Frank Zombo, 31.
The second-longest tenured Chiefs player is safety Eric Berry. He arrived in 2010, or five years after Colquitt.
That Colquitt is by far the oldest and longest-serving player speaks to the changes the Chiefs made in the last couple of months. Long-time teammates such as linebackers Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali and quarterback Alex Smith were either released or traded.
The Chiefs have installed Patrick Mahomes II at quarterback and were active in free agency, signing among others wide receiver Sammy Watkins. Colquitt said those changes leave the Chiefs as close to winning the Super Bowl as they’ve been since he arrived.
“I think rebuilding is an appropriate term because there (are) a lot of different and new pieces," he said. “And in that sense of rebuilding, it is a rebuild but not from a talent standpoint. I think we have all that in the room, there’s a lot of creative-minded coaches that really dealt with a lot of stuff over the last couple of years and we’re just right on that edge.
“We got to find that right mix, which is what you’re seeing. We’re trying to find that right mix so we’re not just one game in the playoffs. We got so close last year and honestly everybody was super disappointed. That’s why they’ve been working so hard this offseason to really make that push and say, ‘Look we’re not satisfied with past results. We still have that Lombardi Trophy in our sights.'"
Colquitt could have moved on in his attempt to win a Super Bowl. He was an unrestricted free agent for the second time in his career.
He wanted to try with the Chiefs.
“That’s what we talked about in 2005, when me and Derrick (Johnson) came in here," Colquitt said. “We all got cards, which I still have. It has a picture of the Lombardi trophy saying ‘The main thing is the main thing’ and I’ve kept that card and I have all intentions since they drafted me in the third round of staying here until that happens.
“I talked to my dad extensively about it just since the season ended in early January and he just talked about legacy and staying in Kansas City. That’s who I go to for a lot of my planning, football business stuff, and he was just adamant about staying there and finishing the task. He’s always been about finishing contracts and (making) sure they sign up for a winner and be that and embrace community, just all the things that Kansas City preaches anyway. He wanted me to finish it out here."