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Thread: GRETZ: They'll Never Learn

  1. #1
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    Default GRETZ: They'll Never Learn

    http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2007/07...l_never_learn/

    GRETZ: They'll Never Learn
    Jul 28, 2007, 3:06:09 AM by Bob Gretz - FAQ

    RIVER FALLS, WI – Some people are oblivious to history.
    The latest example is Priest Holmes, his return to the Chiefs and the reaction of some in the media and among the fans to this startling news.

    It took all of five seconds after the story broke that Holmes was returning after being away for 18 months for the first conspiracy theory to surface; the comeback was a negotiating ploy by Carl Peterson in his on-going contract talks with Larry Johnson. Supposedly Peterson convinced Holmes to announce his return to pressure Johnson, who is holding out for a re-worked deal.
    Anyone running around spouting that drivel has paid no attention to Holmes and his history. It’s been a long, long time since anybody told Priest Anthony Holmes what to do, let alone the general manager of a football team. If you think Holmes would allow himself to be injected into the contract dispute with another player, then you are delusional.

    Holmes is his own man. He keeps his own counsel. He comes and goes at his own pace and own schedule. Always has.

    It’s not accurate to say that Peterson was shocked by Holmes’ decision to return. He’s never under-estimated the running back, never counted him out. But when the first call came from Holmes’ agent last week, Peterson was a bit surprised.

    “We have been in touch with Priest over the last couple of months,” Peterson told the media on Friday. “He has indicated to me that he is very excited about coming back and playing football for the Chiefs.

    “Nothing will ever surprise me regarding Priest Holmes. He is truly a unique individual. He dances to his own tune. He prepares himself for football in his own way.”

    Some view Peterson as a Wizard of Oz-like figure that sits behind a curtain and pushes buttons and pulls levers and people jump about at his command and whim. Like the little dog Toto, let me pull back the curtain to reveal that while he has a powerfully deep voice, he’s not omnipotent. Peterson may be a King, but he’s not a Wizard and he can’t make somebody like Priest Holmes do something the player does not want to do.

    What comes with his return remains to be seen. Holmes will take part in drills sometime this weekend. When the Chiefs can assess his physical condition, they will schedule his return to full practice work.

    That does not mean he’ll be in the starting lineup in Houston come September. It doesn’t mean that he’ll even make the final roster. Anybody that says they know what’s going to happen with Priest is lying.

    Questions abound. Holmes may return to practice, get bounced around a few times, knocked down once or twice, and decide that he has finally had enough. I doubt that, but the answers will come with time.

    Remember this: Priest Holmes has made millions of dollars while being under-estimated. The league did not think he was worthy of a draft choice. He signed as a free agent with Baltimore and in his second season ran for over 1,000 yards. The Ravens did not think he was worth keeping, retaining Jamal Lewis and allowing Holmes to become a free agent. That worked out real well for Baltimore, as Lewis ended up serving time in jail on drug charges and he battled injuries and conditioning problems. He’s now gone off to Cleveland. All Holmes did was come to Kansas City and rush for nearly 6,000 yards in three full seasons and two half seasons. After his hip injury in 2002, he was counted out and his career was over with a Bo Jackson-like injury. All he did the next season was set an NFL record with 27 rushing touchdowns.

    For anyone with a sense of history, or a brain that functions at a higher level than their ego, why would anyone ever under-estimate him again?
    Everything happens for a reason.

  2. #2
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    If you think Holmes would allow himself to be injected into the contract dispute with another player, then you are delusional.
    Exactly.
    Everything happens for a reason.

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    Remember this: Priest Holmes has made millions of dollars while being under-estimated. The league did not think he was worthy of a draft choice. He signed as a free agent with Baltimore and in his second season ran for over 1,000 yards. The Ravens did not think he was worth keeping, retaining Jamal Lewis and allowing Holmes to become a free agent. That worked out real well for Baltimore, as Lewis ended up serving time in jail on drug charges and he battled injuries and conditioning problems. He’s now gone off to Cleveland. All Holmes did was come to Kansas City and rush for nearly 6,000 yards in three full seasons and two half seasons. After his hip injury in 2002, he was counted out and his career was over with a Bo Jackson-like injury. All he did the next season was set an NFL record with 27 rushing touchdowns.

    For anyone with a sense of history, or a brain that functions at a higher level than their ego, why would anyone ever under-estimate him again?
    I have to agree with this; all the guy has ever done is throughout his career is come back and prove people wrong. However, in doing so he has also shown the propensity to be injury prone. I wish him all the luck in the world; not that he'll necessarily need it.

    [Edit]
    I truly hope I am among the many he proves wrong this year.

  4. #4
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    I think it would be great if Priest could make the comeback work. Get L.J. signed and it would make a great combination. Priest would make a great third down back. Although, I don't think Bennett would like it too much. Oh well!

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    Quote Originally Posted by OTR Chiefs fan View Post
    I think it would be great if Priest could make the comeback work. Get L.J. signed and it would make a great combination. Priest would make a great third down back. Although, I don't think Bennett would like it too much. Oh well!
    I think Priest and Bennette would do well in a two back set, but I don't think Herm runs the ball that way.

  6. #6
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    By DOUG TUCKER, AP Sports Writer
    July 29, 2007


    RIVER FALLS, Wis. (AP) -- Priest Holmes says he fell asleep a week or so ago and awoke with a new purpose in life.
    He dreamed he was playing football. Now, despite being out of the game since a brutal tackle in October 2005 aggravated a potentially dangerous spinal condition, Kansas City's career rushing leader is vowing to resume his once-outstanding career.
    if(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object();window.yzq_d['PLrtFUSOxIs-']='&U=13b4mav5a%2fN%3dPLrtFUSOxIs-%2fC%3d591239.10961935.11640412.1757820%2fD%3dLREC %2fB%3d4697534';"In order for me to come back, it's going to require discipline, hard work, and determination," the always enigmatic three-time Pro Bowler said Sunday.
    "One thing that's always been said: without struggle, there's no purpose. I definitely will struggle in the next four weeks to come back to the level in which you need in order to be back in pads."
    One of the NFL's greatest runners until his injury, Holmes rushed for a team-record 5,933 yards after signing as an unrestricted free agent in 2001. He scored 27 touchdowns in 2003 to set what was then an NFL record. But he's hardly been seen around Arrowhead Stadium since 2005, sticking close to home in San Antonio, and learning a great deal, he said, about himself and "about the game of life."
    "Will I be the same runner? That's to be anticipated," he said. "But I tell you one thing, the hard work will be there."
    Almost everyone thought Holmes, who turns 34 on Oct. 7, was done. He'd been on the physically unable to perform list since a devastating tackle by San Diego's Shawne Merriman on Oct. 30, 2005 left him with head and neck trauma. After extensive tests, doctors warned of a possibility of further injury, perhaps even paralysis -- a danger that may still lurk.
    "Can they 100 percent say that in the event something was to happen and (I took) a sudden hit with so much force as I took in the San Diego game, would there be a possibility for something to happen? Very possible," he said.
    "But I think that's the game of life. Nothing's done without risk. I've always been a risk-taker."
    The Chiefs plan to take it easy with him. He made his first appearance on the field during Sunday morning's practice, mostly standing around and jogging while teammates on another field went through a special teams workout.
    Still, the buzz created by his return was palpable. A couple of hundred spectators watching the regular team practice even drifted over to the other field to see Holmes stand around.
    "His status is he's on the physically unable to perform list," said general manager Carl Peterson. "And we are going to take it slow."
    The Texas native has always been known as an unpredictable mystery man, as someone who keeps his own counsel.
    "Revelations and signs and things of that nature, and believing in Christ, having dreams -- those are definitely some things I believe in," he said. "I don't know why I had the dream. But I saw myself playing football. I went to my church and I asked them if they could see me playing football again. And the word that that came out of their mouths was `yes.' And that's the reason why I'm here."
    Nevertheless, it was not an easy decision, he agreed.
    "Then, after the dream of course, comes the self-doubt. You're too old. You can't do this. You've been off 22 months. Why in the world would you go back? There's an old saying that you get faster, stronger, bigger and that's what we've been producing in athletes coming out of college. So why in the world would you want to return?
    "But I can tell you that whenever you have a vision and you have a purpose in mind, and you can actually set a target, anything can be accomplished."
    Immediately after Holmes went down in 2005, Larry Johnson, his restless backup, emerged as one of the league's best backs, smashing Holmes' single-season team rushing record in only nine games, and then breaking his own team record again in 2006 with an NFL-record 416 carries.
    Although Johnson is holding out in a contract dispute, Holmes said he'll have no trouble coming in as a backup. It'll probably be at least a month, he said, before he can put on pads.
    "It's key for every player on every team to know their role, and to be able to contribute in a way which makes their team better," he said. "In order for Larry to take over that role he's now in, it's very much a good thing that I'm glad he's into now. He's established himself.
    "I could do eight plays with my eyes closed pretty much," he said. "Could I go out there and be a running back that totes the ball 22 times? That would consist of really building a base. "I just think that the biggest turning point in this situation is the position I'm coming in as, to be an encouragement to the team."


    http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns

  7. #7
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    I think this needed it's own thread.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chiefster View Post
    I think this needed it's own thread.
    I thought about that, but figured it kinda backed-up what Gretz was reporting.

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    Quote Originally Posted by chief31 View Post
    I thought about that, but figured it kinda backed-up what Gretz was reporting.
    Gotcha. :)

  10. #10
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    Default Priest

    Thats great stuff, Priest has always did it his way!!

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