Priest Holmes facts for kids
Holmes in 2011
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| Position: | Running back | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | October 7, 1973 Fort Smith, Arkansas, U.S. |
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| Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 213 lb (97 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | John Marshall (Leon Valley, Texas) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Texas (1992–1996) | ||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 1997 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||||
Priest Anthony Holmes (born October 7, 1973) is a former American football player. He was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Priest started his career with the Baltimore Ravens. He then became a huge star after joining the Kansas City Chiefs in 2001.
During his seven years with the Chiefs, Priest was chosen as an All-Pro three times. He also played in the Pro Bowl three times. In 2002, he was named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year. Before joining the Chiefs, Priest won a Super Bowl ring with the Ravens in 2000. He was a backup player then. He ran for over 2,000 yards in his four seasons with Baltimore. Priest missed the 2006 season due to a neck injury. After trying to come back in 2007, he retired from the NFL.
Priest played college football at the University of Texas at Austin. He was later honored in the University of Texas Hall of Honor and the Texas High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2014, he was inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame.
Contents
Early Life and Learning to Work Hard
Priest Holmes was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He grew up in San Antonio, Texas, with his mother Norma and stepfather Herman Morris. His stepfather worked at Kelly Air Force Base. This meant Priest grew up in a military family.
When he was 13, Priest spent a summer in Detroit, Michigan. He worked for his grandfather's lawn care business. He worked long hours, 12 hours a day, six days a week, with much older men. This experience taught him a strong work ethic. This work ethic later helped him become a great football player.
Playing Football in School
High School Football Journey
Priest Holmes looked up to Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett. He learned his own special running style playing street football in his neighborhood. Later, he went to John Marshall High School. There, he became a starting player.
In his senior year in 1991, Priest ran for an amazing 2,061 yards. He led his team to the state championship game. They finished as runner-up, losing to Odessa Permian.
College Football Success
Priest attended the University of Texas at Austin from 1992 to 1996. He played for coach John Mackovic. In his first year, he played in seven games. He ran for 114 yards against Houston. As a sophomore, he started two games and ran well.
In his junior year, Priest played much more. He ran for 524 yards and scored five touchdowns. He was named the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the 1994 Sun Bowl. In that game, he ran for 161 yards and scored four touchdowns. Priest missed the 1995 season because of a knee injury. This allowed another great player, Ricky Williams, to become the starter.
Even though he was a third-string player in his final year, Priest scored 13 touchdowns. He only carried the ball 59 times that season. His biggest moment came in the first-ever Big 12 Championship Game. Texas, with a 7–4 record, played against the third-ranked Nebraska. Texas won 37–27, and Priest ran for 120 yards and three touchdowns. In his last two seasons, Texas had a 16–9 record and finished in the top 25 teams. He ran for a total of 1,276 yards and 20 touchdowns in college. During college, he started using his first name, Priest, instead of his middle name, Anthony.
Professional Football Career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 8+7⁄8 in (1.75 m) |
213 lb (97 kg) |
30+5⁄8 in (0.78 m) |
9 in (0.23 m) |
4.73 s | 1.62 s | 2.72 s | 4.14 s | 7.40 s | 33.0 in (0.84 m) |
9 ft 7 in (2.92 m) |
18 reps | |
| All values from NFL Combine | ||||||||||||
Starting with the Baltimore Ravens
After college, Priest Holmes joined the Baltimore Ravens in 1997. He was an undrafted free agent, meaning no team picked him in the NFL Draft. In his first year, he was the fourth-string running back. He played in seven games, mostly on special teams.
In 1998, Priest competed for a starting spot. He became the third-string running back. That season, he ran for over 1,000 yards, leading the team. He even had one game where he ran for over 200 yards! In 1999, he played in nine games and started four. He ran for 506 yards and scored one touchdown.
In 2000, a new rookie running back, Jamal Lewis, became the starter. The Ravens went on to win Super Bowl XXXV. Priest was their second-string running back during this championship season.
Becoming a Star with the Kansas City Chiefs
In 2001, Priest Holmes signed a contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. In his first year with the Chiefs, he did much better than anyone expected. He led the entire NFL in rushing yards with 1,555 yards for the 2001 NFL season. He was the first undrafted player ever to do this!
Even though he missed the last two games of the 2002 NFL season due to a hip injury, Priest still ran for 1,615 yards and scored 21 touchdowns. In the 2003 NFL season, he broke Marshall Faulk's NFL record for most total touchdowns in a season with 27. This record was later broken by other players. Priest Holmes and Emmitt Smith are the only two running backs in NFL history to have two seasons in a row with 20 or more rushing touchdowns. In 2004, he was on track to do it again but got injured. He finished that season with 14 touchdowns.
Priest's 2005 season was also cut short by a spinal injury. This happened during a tackle by Shawne Merriman. Another running back, Larry Johnson, took his place. Priest's injury did not heal in 2006, so he missed the entire season. Larry Johnson became the Chiefs' main running back. Priest hoped to return to play for a few more seasons. However, he said he would not force it if it was bad for his health.
After good medical tests, Priest returned to the Chiefs' training camp in July 2007. He was later put on the team roster and started practicing in October. Four days later, on October 21, 2007, Priest made his comeback! He played in a game against the Oakland Raiders. He even started a game against the San Diego Chargers. In a game against the Denver Broncos, he led the Chiefs with 65 rushing yards.
Retirement from Football
Priest Holmes announced his retirement on November 21, 2007. He had re-injured his neck in a game against the Indianapolis Colts a few days earlier.
Priest Holmes's Legacy
When Priest retired, he was the Chiefs' all-time leader in career rushing touchdowns (76) and total touchdowns (83). He also held the record for career rushing yards (6,070). His rushing yards record has since been broken by Jamaal Charles. The Chiefs honored Priest by putting him in the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 2014. The ceremony happened on November 2 during a game against the New York Jets.
Priest Holmes has been nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame nine times as of 2023. This shows how respected he is in football.
NFL Career Statistics
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year | |
| Won the Super Bowl | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
Regular Season Games
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1997 | BAL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | BAL | 16 | 13 | 233 | 1,008 | 4.3 | 56 | 7 | 43 | 260 | 6.0 | 25 | 0 |
| 1999 | BAL | 9 | 4 | 89 | 506 | 5.7 | 72 | 1 | 13 | 104 | 8.0 | 34 | 1 |
| 2000 | BAL | 16 | 2 | 137 | 588 | 4.3 | 21 | 2 | 32 | 221 | 6.9 | 27 | 0 |
| 2001 | KC | 16 | 16 | 327 | 1,555 | 4.8 | 41 | 8 | 62 | 614 | 9.9 | 67 | 2 |
| 2002 | KC | 14 | 14 | 313 | 1,615 | 5.2 | 56 | 21 | 70 | 672 | 9.6 | 64 | 3 |
| 2003 | KC | 16 | 16 | 320 | 1,420 | 4.4 | 31 | 27 | 74 | 690 | 9.3 | 36 | 0 |
| 2004 | KC | 8 | 8 | 196 | 892 | 4.6 | 33 | 14 | 19 | 187 | 9.8 | 52 | 1 |
| 2005 | KC | 7 | 7 | 119 | 451 | 3.8 | 35 | 6 | 21 | 197 | 9.4 | 60 | 1 |
| 2006 | KC | 0 | 0 | did not play due to injury | |||||||||
| 2007 | KC | 4 | 2 | 46 | 137 | 3.0 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 3.4 | 8 | 0 |
| Career | 113 | 82 | 1,780 | 8,172 | 4.6 | 72 | 86 | 339 | 2,962 | 8.7 | 67 | 8 | |
Postseason Games
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 2000 | BAL | 4 | 1 | 18 | 45 | 2.5 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2003 | KC | 1 | 1 | 24 | 176 | 7.3 | 48 | 2 | 5 | 32 | 6.4 | 13 | 0 |
| 2006 | KC | 0 | 0 | did not play due to injury | |||||||||
| Career | 5 | 2 | 42 | 221 | 5.3 | 48 | 2 | 6 | 36 | 6.0 | 13 | 0 | |
Awards and Career Highlights
- Super Bowl champion (XXXV)
- NFL Offensive Player of the Year (2002)
- 3× First-team All-Pro (2001–2003)
- 3× Pro Bowl (2001–2003)
- 2× NFL rushing touchdowns leader (2002, 2003)
- NFL rushing yards leader (2001)
- NFL scoring leader (2002)
- Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame inductee (2014)
Records Priest Holmes Holds
NFL Records
- 163.4 yards from scrimmage per game (2,287 yards in 14 games), single season (2002)
- Most games with 2 or more touchdowns in a season: 10 (2003) (tied with LaDainian Tomlinson)
- Most seasons with at least 20 rushing touchdowns: 2 (tied with Emmitt Smith)
Kansas City Chiefs Team Records
- Career rushing touchdowns (76)
- Career total touchdowns (83)
The Priest Holmes Foundation
The Priest Holmes Foundation is an organization that helps children. It works to encourage education and improve the lives of kids in the community.
