The 1970s dynasty that was the Pittsburgh Steelers had plenty of household names and future Hall of Famers on the roster. It is easy to overlook a specialist with that much talent on the team, but P Craig Colquitt was a significant part of those late-70s teams. There was one game in particular that can really be pointed to as a crowning achievement of his in the 1979 playoffs against the Houston Oilers in the conference championship game.
Colquitt was a guest on the Pigskin Dispatch podcast on YouTube recently and was asked about that game in particular. He only punted three times, but for 153 yards (51-yard avg.), including a monster 66-yard punt when the score was tight at 17-10 in the third quarter.
“It’s so clear in my mind that game because the whole week it was rain and ice, and literally the field was saturated,” Colquitt said. “It’s hard to keep the balls dry. And I get a ball snapped to me, and I’m seeing a blue object getting closer and closer to me, but I’m focused. I hit the ball and I look up and it’s Bum Phillips…he said ‘boy, not only is mother nature against you, but you can’t get this big fat guy outta your way’ and he was talking about himself…And it was like my feet warmed up, my hands warmed up, I totally relaxed in that game.”
The Steelers were one game away from their fourth Super Bowl appearance, and with the inclement weather, it would be easy for a punter to be on edge. That relaxed demeanor paid off as Colquitt came up big for the Steelers. Here is the 66-yard punt to flip the field in a crucial moment of the game via mcmillenandwife’s YouTube channel.
With how good the Steelers’ defense was at the time, a field-flipping punt like that in inclement weather was a death sentence for the Oilers’ next drive. They were backed up on their own 14-yard line, so the Steel Curtain defense had plenty of grass to defend. The score was 17-10 in favor of the Steelers in the third quarter. They went on to win the game 27-13, and the field position battle was a big part of that.
“That game reflected home-field advantage in Pittsburgh,” Colquitt said. “Inclement weather like that. It looked like Houston did not want to be there.”
For comparison, Cliff Parsley punted for the Oilers and had four punts for 120 yards (30.0 avg.). That is a massive advantage for the Steelers in that kind of game. It goes to show how important it is to pair a great defense with a great punter, something the current Steelers will be looking to do as they recently moved on from Pressley Harvin III.
