If Dustin Colquitt gets to the NFL's Pro Bowl in February, he can thank a new approach to special teams by the Kansas City Chiefs.

He can also thank some sixth-graders at Whittle Springs Middle School.

Unless you're a misplaced Chiefs fan or an NFL stat geek, you may not be aware that Colquitt is having a fine second season punting for pay.

The Bearden High School graduate and former University of Tennessee standout has rallied from an underwhelming rookie season to become one of the league's best punters.

"My goal at the beginning of the year,'' Colquitt said, "was to be in the top five in every category, so I guess you could say my goal was effectiveness.

"If the Pro Bowl comes out of that, I love it.''

Colquitt ranks fifth in overall punting with a 45.1-yard average, but is only a fraction out of third place.

More important, Colquitt and the Chiefs rank No. 2 in net punting at 39.7 yards-per-attempt.

That's the money category -- the bottom line on which Pro Bowl votes are based (by the NFL players).

The AFC and NFC each pick only one punter for the trip to Hawaii in February, plus an alternate. Buffalo's Brian Moorman and Shane Lechler of Oakland are the competition.

Another part of the selection process is online and cell-phone voting by fans.

Colquitt, it turns out, has quite a few of them at Whittle Springs Middle School.

Nancee Rogers is a sixth-grade reading teacher and a friend of Colquitt's mom Anne.

"We like to get the kids to be competent in online technology,'' Rogers said. "I thought this would be a good opportunity.

"One of my classes in particular is very hard to keep on task. They were totally into this.''

The ballot is fairly tedious to complete, which added to the appeal for Rogers. She also got in a civics lesson by, relating the process to voting in political elections.

Some of the pupils are ballot-box stuffers, which Rogers, a Colquitt fan, encourages.

"It just turned into a lot bigger lesson than I thought it was going to be,'' Rogers said.

"If you can teach something and the kids enjoy it and it's still learning, then everybody wins.''

Even if Colquitt isn't selected as the AFC's Pro Bowl punter, his second season has been a triumph.

Although he was deemed the Chiefs' punter from opening day of his rookie year, 2005 was a tough ride.

"I knew I had the leg to do it,'' he said, "and being at Tennessee allowed me to be in big-time playoff atmospheres.''

But ...

The Chiefs' special-teams coach tinkered with Colquitt's form and brought in a specialist who further complicated things.

He ranked 29th overall, 26th in net punting.

When new coach Herm Edwards was hired at season's end, it was a breath of fresh air.

The Chiefs signed free agents with special-teams expertise and new special-teams coach Mike Priefer gave Colquitt the orders he wanted to hear:

"Just go back to doing what you did throughout school.''

Or, as Colquitt's dad Craig interprets it:

"Let's see what you can do with the football and we'll see if we can cover it.''

When it comes to punting, Craig Colquitt, of course, isn't the average dad. He preceded Dustin at UT and then won two Super Bowl rings in his six years punting for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"We've talked six times today, seriously,'' Dustin said.

"I tell him a story and he tells me one right back.''

Craig and Anne's weekends are less complicated now that UT's regular season is over and Britton, the younger punting son, is off until the bowl game.

Craig and Dustin chat on Sundays before the game, then again afterward. Dustin sends DVDs of his work home.

"We go over everything,'' Craig said. "I've watched him so long I can tell when he's not happy.''

At the moment, he's happy -- if a little stressed.

Wife Christia is due to give birth to their first child on Friday -- the day before Baltimore visits -- but Dustin's not sure it'll wait that long.

"She's ready to go,'' he said.

In time, another online voter.