sling58
10-21-2007, 02:59 PM
The Priest is back and wants to serve again on Sundays.
It's been almost two years since Priest Holmes carried the football. Few players at any age return to the NFL after a two-year absence, much less a 34-year-old running back.
The wall for NFL runners historically has been 30. Backs who make it that far in their careers generally face a steep and rapid decline.
Only 25 backs in NFL history rushed for 1,000 yards in their 30s. Only three – Hall of Famers John Riggins, John Henry Johnson and Franco Harris – rushed for 1,000 yards after the age of 32.
So feel free to write Holmes off in his comeback with the Kansas City Chiefs. But be warned that he has been written off before.
Holmes was an undrafted free agent coming out of Texas who became a 1,000-yard rusher with the Baltimore Ravens. Never a speed back, his career appeared to be torpedoed in 1999 when he suffered a knee injury.
That cost him his starting job in Baltimore and, eventually, his spot on the roster. Jamal Lewis became Baltimore's featured back in 2000 on the way to a Super Bowl title. When Holmes became a free agent after that season, the Ravens waved goodbye.
Holmes signed with the Chiefs in 2001 because they offered him the starting position, and he went on to win the NFL rushing title that season. He broke Emmitt Smith's NFL touchdown record with 27 in 2003 and was on his way to a second rushing crown with 892 yards in 2004 before another knee injury ended his season in the eighth game.
Holmes made it back in time for the 2005 season but suffered a neck injury in the seventh game on a hit from San Diego's Shawne Merriman. That ended his season. In his absence Larry Johnson emerged as an AFC rushing champion.
Holmes spent 2006 on the physically-unable-to-perform list but returned to the practice field last week and will be activated for today's game at Oakland.
"One of the things that I can take from practice is that I still have a lot in me," Holmes said.
The starting position belongs to Johnson. But the Chiefs created a path to the field for Holmes by sending backup Michael Bennett to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the trade deadline.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/10-07/1021pholmes.jpg Getty Images
Priest Holmes (31) is back with the Chiefs. He has been out of football since 2005 after suffering a neck injury.
If an older back has any juice left in his legs, Kansas City is the place to be.
The Chiefs extended the Hall of Fame career of Marcus Allen in the 1990s. Allen arrived in KC at the age of 32. But Kansas City spotted him in games, never giving him much more than 200 carries per season. He wound up playing five years in Kansas City before retiring at the age of 37. He rushed for 890 yards at 35 and scored 11 touchdowns at 37.
So opportunity awaits.
"I'm a big history guy," Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said. "I think the history shows you the past and gives you a good idea about what is going to happen in the future. Look back at what he's accomplished before when people thought he was out. This guy has a great mindset, and that's what life is about."
It's been almost two years since Priest Holmes carried the football. Few players at any age return to the NFL after a two-year absence, much less a 34-year-old running back.
The wall for NFL runners historically has been 30. Backs who make it that far in their careers generally face a steep and rapid decline.
Only 25 backs in NFL history rushed for 1,000 yards in their 30s. Only three – Hall of Famers John Riggins, John Henry Johnson and Franco Harris – rushed for 1,000 yards after the age of 32.
So feel free to write Holmes off in his comeback with the Kansas City Chiefs. But be warned that he has been written off before.
Holmes was an undrafted free agent coming out of Texas who became a 1,000-yard rusher with the Baltimore Ravens. Never a speed back, his career appeared to be torpedoed in 1999 when he suffered a knee injury.
That cost him his starting job in Baltimore and, eventually, his spot on the roster. Jamal Lewis became Baltimore's featured back in 2000 on the way to a Super Bowl title. When Holmes became a free agent after that season, the Ravens waved goodbye.
Holmes signed with the Chiefs in 2001 because they offered him the starting position, and he went on to win the NFL rushing title that season. He broke Emmitt Smith's NFL touchdown record with 27 in 2003 and was on his way to a second rushing crown with 892 yards in 2004 before another knee injury ended his season in the eighth game.
Holmes made it back in time for the 2005 season but suffered a neck injury in the seventh game on a hit from San Diego's Shawne Merriman. That ended his season. In his absence Larry Johnson emerged as an AFC rushing champion.
Holmes spent 2006 on the physically-unable-to-perform list but returned to the practice field last week and will be activated for today's game at Oakland.
"One of the things that I can take from practice is that I still have a lot in me," Holmes said.
The starting position belongs to Johnson. But the Chiefs created a path to the field for Holmes by sending backup Michael Bennett to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the trade deadline.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/img/10-07/1021pholmes.jpg Getty Images
Priest Holmes (31) is back with the Chiefs. He has been out of football since 2005 after suffering a neck injury.
If an older back has any juice left in his legs, Kansas City is the place to be.
The Chiefs extended the Hall of Fame career of Marcus Allen in the 1990s. Allen arrived in KC at the age of 32. But Kansas City spotted him in games, never giving him much more than 200 carries per season. He wound up playing five years in Kansas City before retiring at the age of 37. He rushed for 890 yards at 35 and scored 11 touchdowns at 37.
So opportunity awaits.
"I'm a big history guy," Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said. "I think the history shows you the past and gives you a good idea about what is going to happen in the future. Look back at what he's accomplished before when people thought he was out. This guy has a great mindset, and that's what life is about."