Skip to main content
Advertising

News | Minnesota Vikings – vikings.com

Britton Colquitt, Brother & Father are NFL's 1st Player Trio with Super Bowl Rings

colquitt-3-feature-2560

Sunday's Super Bowl win by the Chiefs made it four rings for three Colquitts.

Dustin Colquitt's first appearance in the sport's biggest game made his younger brother Britton and their father Craig the first father-and-sons trio to reach Super Bowls.

They also have each made it to the winners' circle.

The paths to parades were as unique as Britton's personality against the backdrop of lower-key members of the Vikings locker room.

Not everyone, for instance, has a neighborhood’s-worth of plush animals and figurines in honor of teammates in their lockers.

colquitt-2-feature-2560

Craig won Super Bowl rings with the Steelers to complete his first two pro seasons (Super Bowls XII and XIII to end 1978 and 1979).

Dustin was exactly the opposite. He holds the Chiefs franchise record for playoff appearances (12 games) and just wrapped his 15th NFL season (all with Kansas City).

colquitt-6-feature-2560

Britton's summit involved challenges that included a rough setback in his first Super Bowl appearance two years before he experienced the joy of victory.

The Broncos advanced to Super Bowl XLVIII but lost 43-8 to the Seattle Seahawks in a game that spiraled fast.

Denver returned two seasons later to win Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7, 2016.

colquitt-5-feature-2560

Britton was released the following spring and landed in Cleveland. The Browns won one game in the next two seasons before a 7-8-1 showing in 2018.

Britton was waived by Cleveland and claimed by Minnesota just before the start of the 2019 season.

He proceeded to set a Vikings single-season record for net punting average (42.6 yards per punt) and became the fourth punter since 1991 (second Viking in that span) to go an entire season (min. 40 punts) without a touchback.

Britton is the first to avoid a touchback and have a net punting average of 42.0 or higher in an NFL season.

He also shored up holding duties, helping Dan Bailey make 27 of 29 field goals (93.1 percent) and 40 of 44 extra points (90.9 percent) in 2019. Bailey's field goal accuracy shot up from 75 percent the previous season and helped the kicker earn a performance bonus.

A little less than a month ago, Britton and Vikings teammates reflected on a 2019 campaign in which Minnesota finished 10-6 and became the first team to defeat a 13-3 opponent in a Wild Card game.

Britton, whose contract is scheduled to expire next month, spoke about meshing quickly with Bailey and rookie long snapper Austin Cutting, how much he enjoyed Minnesota and whether or not he feels like the Vikings are on the cusp of doing something similar to what his Broncos teams did.

Britton joked about drawing a caddy fee from Bailey but said it was good to see the kicker back on the trajectory that has accompanied most of his career.

"I'm happy for him and that I could be a part of helping his career get to where it was before and where it should be," Britton said.

The veteran said that Cutting's disciplined background from his time at Air Force resonated, and the rookie focused on asking the more experienced specialists how to help the group.

Cutting and Bailey are the quiet types; Britton is at the other end of the spectrum, but it worked well.

"Dan and I said when I got here [we] were like yin and yang, as far as personalities," Britton said. "He's a little quiet and just a lot more by the book, whereas I don't shut up. I'm going to say what's on my mind, but I think it works well. On the outside looking in, you might think I'm not very professional because of the way I joke around. I'm always laughing and stuff like that, but I love my job and being here. Why not show it?

"I take my job seriously, holding and punting, and I take my job of being a good influence on this team and trying to shine God's light anywhere I can and try to teach young guys and use my age and experience to help this team get better," he added.

colquitt-1-feature-2560

Britton said he hopes that a return to Minnesota is in his future, but he will continue to rely on God's plan. He said his kids wake up enthusiastically on school days and don't mind freezing-cold mornings at the bus stop.

"Of course they like the weekends, but our son was so pumped after Christmas to go back to school. That's just a testament to this place," Britton said. "We've fallen in love with it, and the people are great, our neighbors, it's a really awesome place."

As for the Vikings, the Tennessee native was asked if he could see some parallels with his time teaming with former Volunteers QB Peyton Manning.

"I definitely do. I was telling some guys about that yesterday (the day the Vikings were eliminated by the 49ers), how we went to New York and got killed by the Seahawks," Britton said. "You all remember that game, and we were a good team then. It was just we added a couple of things, but those experiences definitely put you where you need to be, and two years later, we won the Super Bowl.

"I told some guys that, and I think that this team may be just a little younger as a whole, given that Peyton was in the end of his career and all of those things," he continued. "The building blocks are there, and the defense and special teams and offense, you might even say we have more weapons than that year that we won the Super Bowl. It's there, and getting that taste is going to make guys more hungry. … I'm very confident in this team and just hope to be part of it."

Advertising