For a while, it felt like Dustin Cloquitt had been punting since the dawn of the Arrowhead. He was already in year 13 when Patrick Mahomes showed up in the Chiefs‘ building with his rocket arm and baby face. While the locker room got younger and louder, Colquitt just kept showing up, slipping into that first locker by the door like it was his assigned seat in homeroom. And when Mahomes started launching 80-yard bombs, Colquitt would just smirk—less work for him, after all, so did less coffin corner.
But don’t mistake quiet for passive. The veteran punter knew when to stir the pot. Like the time he tricked half the team into thinking there was a mountain lion lurking by the practice field. Word spread like a wildfire, and the guys were sprinting to their cars, and Coach Todd Haley was nearly calling animal control. That was Dustin—always the calmest guy in the room, but never afraid to mess with your head just for a laugh.
“Dustin loves a good prank,” Ryan Petkoff, Senior Vice President of brand development and communications for the Hunt Sports Group, once recalled after the Chiefs parted ways with Colquitt following a 15-year-long stint with the Chiefs. But it’s time for his homecoming. Now, before you think or speculate that the Punter is returning to play another season with KC, think again.
On Wednesday, the Chiefs announced that they’re signing Dustin Colquitt on a one-day contract. And yes, he will officially retire as a Kansas City Chief. “Congrats on a well-earned retirement,” the Chiefs wrote on their social media handle. Drafted by the Kansas City team way back in the 2005 NFL draft, Colquitt has been the longest-tenured player in the franchise’s history.
We have signed Dustin Colquitt to a one-day contract. He will officially retire as a Kansas City Chief
Congrats on a well-earned retirement, @dustincolquitt2! pic.twitter.com/9cWoPxY3VY
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) June 4, 2025
The 43-year-old Chiefs’ legend has appeared in 238 games, the most by any player at any position. Across 15 seasons with the Chiefs, Colquitt had the most punts in the franchise history for the most number of yards. We’re talking about 1,124 punts for over 50K yards. And yes, it included the franchise record for the longest punt. That would be for 81 yards that he recorded in his third season with the Chiefs.
Along the way, the guy also earned a Super Bowl ring back in the 2019 season and unforgettable memories. He once recalled the time when head coach, Andy Reid advised him to don’t lose butt, because you know, having a strong lower body is important for football players. “You went to the Pro Bowl…but don’t lose your butt. Punters have to have big butts. As soon as you look like you’re going down from a physique standpoint, you’re out of here,” Colquitt recalled.
After parting ways with the Chiefs, the guy had brief stints with a few teams for the next couple of seasons. But now, he’s returning to KC on a one-day deal to hang up his cleats officially. It’s safe to say that it will mark the end of an era, as the Chiefs’ most tenured player is now officially retiring. Speaking of retirement, there is one man who has been grabbing the spotlight. The Chiefs’ tight end, Travis Kelce.
Travis Kelce got a retirement call from the NFL legend
Ever since Travis Kelce announced that he’s returning for the 13th season with the Chiefs, the player has been constantly working on his physicality and mental state. But the Chiefs’ OTAs recently sparked curiosity among the fans when they shared a few pictures from their practice sessions, where Kelce was nowhere to be seen. And just like that, the retirement talks popped up. Once again.
See, Kelce is turning 36 in October this year, and that means only one thing. Even though he’ll play in the 2025 season, there will come a day when Kelce will officially hang up his cleats. Is it going to be next year, or the year after that? We’ve no clue. However, the NFL legend and former Panthers tight end, Greg Olsen, believes that it’s Kelce who will determine his fate in the NFL, unlike many other players.
“He’s got the world at his fingertips, right? I think he’s one of the unique guys that’s going to be able to control how he leaves the game, and that’s not the reality for most guys,” Olsen said when asked about where Travis stands now that he’s turning 36. Olsen, who played tight end for 14 seasons in the NFL, now works with Kelce on their Tight-End Academy, along with George Kittle during the offseason.
So, yeah, he knows a thing or two about Kelce’s mindset and the outside noise that comes with a TE reaching a certain age. “I think he’s going to be one of the handful of guys that is going to be able to kind of determine when that end is, and it’s going to be when he says it is,” Olsen added. Kelce had a poor performance in the Super Bowl earlier this year, and ever since then, the rumor mill has been buzzing that the guy will soon announce retirement.
But Olsen believes that the TE has a lot of options at the table. “Could he play for one more year and call it? Sure. Could he play for two or three more years? Sure. I don’t know where he stands, I know he’s obviously preparing and training hard… I wouldn’t be surprised by any path that he takes, and he certainly has a lot of options.” Long story short: it’s early to say whether Kelce will enter the gridiron for one last season this year. But we can assume that his fate will probably depend on how well his 2025 season works out.
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