SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Eighteen hundred dollars and a long plane ride later, Baby Colquitt arrived at Super Bowl 50 on Sunday just in time for ... a nap.
The 2-week-old daughter of Broncos punter Britton Colquitt became possibly the most famous NFL baby this week when it was learned that her dad had to fork out the money for a ticket to allow her into Levi's Stadium. Every guest, regardless of age, had to have a ticket, the NFL said. Even ones who can't even sit up on their own.
So the seat sat empty on Sunday afternoon before kickoff, as Colquitt's wife, Nikki, held the newborn in her lap. Isla Colquitt was born Jan. 19, a few days before Denver beat New England in the AFC Championship Game.
Britton, whose dad won two Super Bowl rings with the Steelers in the 1970s, wasn't born when Craig Colquitt played in the games. (Britton's brother Dustin is a punter for the Chiefs.) Craig always told his sons about his experiences, and Britton figured there was no way he'd deprive his child of the game, even if she'll never remember it. Colquitt has two other kids under the age of 4 -- son Nash and daughter Everly. All three of them were sleeping despite very loud noise in the stands roughly 40 minutes before kickoff.
Craig Colquitt brought his two Super Bowl rings with him to the game, but kept them in his pocket. He didn't want to take away from Britton's moment. Craig could tell in warm-ups that Britton was going to have a good day, and he unloaded two punts that averaged 48.5 yards in the first quarter.
Back in his days with the Steelers, Craig forked over $5,000 to bring his family and friends to his Super Bowls. Though tickets are much more steep now, he understood why Britton wanted Isla there.
He said if his kids were alive during the Super Bowl, "I'd have paid $10,000 for the ticket."
In the end, Nikki didn't have much of a choice in the matter. She is nursing Isla, so if the baby didn't come to the game, she wouldn't have, either. The worst part about taking three kids under the age of 4 to a football game with more than 100,000 fans is easy: bathroom breaks. Sometimes they don't make it, she said.
She put earphones on the baby and hoped for the best. She had her mother-in-law, Anne, on hand to help. And in the end, it was money well spent.
Well, sort of. When the family got to the gate Sunday afternoon, the ticket-taker didn't even ask for the baby's ticket.
"I could've gotten away with it," Nikki said.