Priest Holmes
Teams
Baltimore Ravens (1997-2000)
Kansas City Chiefs (2001-2007)
Playoffs
Appearances - 3 (2000,2003,2006)
Conf Champ Games - 1 (2000)
Super Bowls - 1 (2000)
Championships - 1 (2000)
Awards and Honors
Offensive Player of the Year - 1 (2002)
All-Pro First Team - 3 (2001,2002,2003)
Pro Bowl - 3 (2001,2002,2003)
All-Time Ranks
Rushing Touchdowns - #16
Total Touchdowns - #29
Yards per Rush - #35
Rushing Yards per Game - #35
Rushing Yards - #48
Scrimmage Yards - #84
League Leads
Rushing Yards (#1-2001, #3-2002, #9-2003)
Rushing Touchdowns (#1-2002,2003, #3-2004)
Yards per Rush (#4-2001, #5-2002, #7-1998)
Rushing Yards per Game (#1-2004, #2-2002, #3-2001)
Total Touchdowns (#1-2002,2003, #4-2004, #10-2001)
Scrimmage Yards (#1-2001,2002, #5-2003)
Yards per Touch (#6-1999, #10-2002)
After gaining only 1276 rushing yards in 4 seasons at Texas, Priest Holmes went undrafted in the 1997 NFL Draft, then joined the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent for the 1997 season.
Holmes appeared in 7 games as a rookie, and only touched the ball once, on a kickoff return late in the season. Early in his second season, he emerged as the starter for the Ravens, and responded with 1008 yards on the ground.
He struggled with injuries in 1999, missing nearly half of the season, and finished with 506 yards. The team drafted Jamal Lewis, who took over as the starter early in 2000, and the Ravens made their first playoff appearance that year since leaving Cleveland, and ended up winning the Super Bowl, with Holmes contributing only 8 yards in the victory.
He left as a free agent before the 2001 season, joining the Kansas City Chiefs, and he immediately became a superstar. He led the league with 1555 rushing yards that year, and also with 2169 scrimmage yards, becoming the first undrafted player ever to lead the league in either category.
He was even better in 2002. He rushed for 1615 yards and a league-leading 21 touchdowns, and again led the league with 2287 scrimmage yards, and had 24 total touchdowns. The 21 touchdowns are the 6th-highest total in a season in history, and he did all of that despite missing the final 2 games of the season with a hip injury, and was rewarded with the Offensive Player of the Year award.
In 2003, he set a new league record with 27 rushing touchdowns, and had 1420 rushing yards and 2110 scrimmage yards. He is one of only 4 players in history to have 3 straight 2000-yard scrimmage seasons, along with Marshall Faulk, Walter Payton, and Tiki Barber. His touchdown record was broken 2 years later by Shaun Alexander, but Holmes still has the #2 spot on that list.
Holmes started the 2004 looking just as great as in the previous 3 seasons, and was leading the league with 892 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns through just 8 games when he went down with a knee injury that ended his season. He had 1079 scrimmage yards at that point, and was on pace to join Faulk as the only backs to reach 2000 4 times in a row.
When he returned in 2005, he wasn't quite as explosive, but he had 451 yards through 7 games, before another catastrophic injury ended another season, this time to his spine. He missed the remainder of 2005 and the entire 2006 season, and missed the first half of 2007 before finally returning after missing nearly 2 entire years. Unfortunately, he suffered a neck injury a month later and immediately retired.
Holmes spent three and a half years as a bona fide superstar, leading the league in rushing yards once, and rushing touchdowns, total touchdowns, and scrimmage yards twice, and he was on pace to lead the league in all 4 before a knee injury stopped him. He won the Offensive Player of the Year once, and set the touchdown record the next year, and there is no doubt that he was one of the greatest to ever play the game.
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