For most, getting drafted in the NFL Draft brings a flood of happy emotions. Years of hard work finally rewarded by being drafted into the hardest league in sports. But for former Pittsburgh Steelers punter Craig Colquitt, finding out the Steelers selected him in the third round of the 1978 NFL Draft didn’t bring immediate joy.
“I hated the Steelers,” said Colquitt on the Relatively Famous YouTube channel. “I was a Chicago Bear, Washington Redskin, Dallas Cowboy, Atlanta Falcon guy. That’s all my dad watched, that’s all I watched. And Dallas, my entire year, Gil Brandt sent me a letter a week saying, ‘Looking forward to you being a Dallas Cowboy.'”
Although the Dallas Cowboys courted Colquitt, other teams would have to pass on him for Dallas to draft him. As a punter, there was a decent chance Colquitt would fall to the Cowboys. But the Steelers were also showing interest.
“Two weeks before the draft, Chuck Noll flew to Knoxville and tried me out individually at the stadium and I did terrible,” recalled Colquitt. “A week before that I tried out for the scout Dick Haley for the Steelers and did really well. So it was a flip to take me in the third round. But Dallas called me the day before the draft and said they were drafting me in the fifth round. And I was excited.”
After long-time punter Bobby Walden retired in 1978, the Steelers had a clear need at the position. Colquitt punted for the Tennessee Volunteers for two years, averaging 43.8 yards per punt, catching NFL eyes.
Despite the Cowboys’ season-long courtship of Craig Colquitt, Pittsburgh was the team who made the move, selecting him with the 76th pick of the 1978 draft. Due to his hatred of the Steelers and hope of being drafted by the Cowboys, Colquitt’s initial feeling of reaching the highest level of football was disappointment. At least until he spoke with Pittsburgh.
“Day of the draft Steelers took me in the third,” said Colquitt. “I was disappointed until the public relations director called me and said, ‘Hey Craig what do you think about playing with Terry Bradshaw, Jack Lambert, Franco Harris?’ [He] went through all of these names, and I hadn’t thought of it that way and I thought you know this is probably a good opportunity after all.”
At the time of the draft, both the Steelers and Cowboys had claims to being the team of the decade. By the end of the 1977 season, both the Steelers and Cowboys won two Super Bowls in the decade, with the Cowboys just winning Super Bowl XII. In hindsight, being drafted by Pittsburgh was obviously better for Colquitt, but at the time Pittsburgh wasn’t far and away a better team that decade than Dallas.
That changed in Colquitt’s rookie season. He and the Steelers took on the Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII with Pittsburgh coming out victorious 35-31. Pittsburgh, now beating Dallas twice in the Super Bowl that decade, solidified themselves as a better team, and then won another championship the next season to finish the 1970s with four Super Bowls.
Craig Colquitt had a successful career with the Steelers, donning the Black and Gold for six seasons and winning two rings. While a Steeler, Colquitt averaged 41.2 yards per punt, and came up clutch in the playoffs. He lacked a booming leg but his ability to pinpoint place punts was exactly what the Steelers needed.
Although Colquitt may have hated the Steelers and was disappointed when he found out he was drafted by them, it worked out in the end. Colquitt won two Super Bowl rings, became one of the better punters in Steelers history, and got to play with Terry Bradshaw, Jack Lambert, Franco Harris, and the rest of the 70’s Super Steelers. It’s a better outcome than anything Dallas could’ve offered.
