Strange: K.C. makes the scene at Colquitt's

The home office of Punters Incorporated, a house off Northshore Drive, was overflowing Saturday.

Colquitts, young and old. Relatives, fraternity brothers, buddies, a fiancee, you name it. The burgers were sizzling. The TVs tuned, of course, to the NFL draft.

This was Dustin Colquitt's draft scene.

And he soaked it up, throughout the afternoon and deep into the evening on ESPN and ESPN2.

"This is the first time I ever watched TV for seven straight hours,'' Colquitt said.

"But what made it a fun day was I knew all these guys that were getting picked from all the banquets and things that I've been to.''

Nearly 11 hours into the draft, only three picks remained in the third round before the NFL would call it quits for the night.

At 10:53 p.m., ESPN's Chris Berman looked into the camera and announced a punter was going to be picked.

The 99th pick overall, Colquitt became only the third punter in the past 10 years to be drafted as high as the third round.

"It was unbelievable,'' Colquitt said. "Everybody was still here. It sounded like somebody hit a home run.''

After weeks of mystery, the future was revealed.

Thirty-two possibilities. Frostbite in Buffalo. Sunburn in Arizona. Climate-controlled domes. Good teams. Bad teams.

You never know which one is willing to use a draft pick on a punter.

Colquitt at least had a hint. Kansas City was the last team to work him out two weeks ago.

Head coach Dick Vermeil called when the Chiefs went on the clock for the 99th pick. He told Colquitt to stay on the phone.

"To be honest,'' Colquitt said, "I was really expecting to go in the fourth round. But Kansas City had another plan and I guess God had another plan.''

Some 27 years ago, it was a very different draft scene for Dustin's dad.

Craig Colquitt, who was proudly manning the grill Saturday, laughed at the contrast.

There was no ESPN in 1978. He didn't have an agent. His only link to an uncertain future was the telephone in his Town View apartment.

"I spent the whole day there,'' he said. "We had cereal and peanut butter and crackers. We didn't have any money.''

When the phone rang it was Joe Gordon of the Pittsburgh Steelers front office.

"I was actually disappointed at first,'' Colquitt recalled, "until he asked what I thought about playing with Terry Bradshaw and started naming off the roster.

"I got emotional. I hadn't thought about it that way.''

Within a year, Colquitt would wear the first of his two Super Bowl rings. He would punt for Pittsburgh through 1984.

Craig could be excused for hoping Pittsburgh would call Saturday. Mom, Anne Colquitt, a former dancer with quite a kick herself, was pleased with Kansas City. It's the headquarters of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

"He's got a cousin there,'' she said, "and we're excited he'll have a little bit of family there.''

Dustin knows the battle is only beginning.

In '78, his dad, also a third-round pick, had to beat out five other punters in the Steelers' camp.

Of the 32 punters in the NFL last year, only 14 were drafted as punters. Seventeen were undrafted free agents. Tom Tupa was drafted as a quarterback.

"It may be the hardest position to make the team,'' Dustin said. "You can have back-up quarterbacks and five, six or seven receivers, but they can't keep two punters.''

That Dustin is even in position to battle for an NFL job is, in his father's words, a Cinderella story.

Soccer was not only Dustin's first love, but his only love.

When Craig held kicking camps at Maryville College for 13 years, young Dustin had no interest when he tagged along.

"He'd either swim in the pool or play in the woods,'' Craig said. "I couldn't get him to kick a football.''

Finally, he did, in his senior year at Bearden High School. Still, he almost signed a soccer scholarship at Brown before deciding - with his dad's, uh, blessing - to try punting at Tennessee.

"I wanted to be welcome home for Christmas and holidays,'' Dustin said.

And now here he is about to continue a legacy.

A legacy nurtured by coach Willard Brown at South High School, by George Cafego and John Majors at UT, by a father, by uncle Jimmy Colquitt, and to be continued in orange by little brother Britton next fall.

"I'm trying not to pull my hair out,'' Dustin said.

"It's a cluster of mixed emotions. I've got three life-changing events coming up.''

The draft was first. In two weeks he graduates from UT. On July 9, he weds Christia Brinkley, captain of the UT dance squad.

And for Craig and Anne, too, this draft is a life-changing event

Said Craig, "I'm not going to have to pay his bills any more.''

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.