Running Back,
Kansas City Chiefs
Age: 29 (Oct.
7)
6th
season in pro football, 2nd with Chiefs
College: Texas
Height: 5’9” Weight: 205
Prelude:
Holmes was
undrafted coming out of college and signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Ravens
for 1997. He spent his rookie year on special teams but got an opportunity to
move into the starting lineup during the ’98 season and gained 1008 rushing
yards, including 227 in a single game, while also catching 43 passes for
another 260 yards. Inconsistency and a knee injury cut into Holmes’ playing
time in 1999 and there were concerns that he lacked adequate size to fit in a
power-running attack. The arrival of rookie RB Jamal Lewis in 2000 relegated
Holmes to a backup role and he contributed 588 rushing yards to Baltimore’s
Super Bowl-winning season. Cast off by the Ravens, he moved on to the Chiefs as
a free agent for 2001 and, proving to be a good fit in the offense with his
skill as both a runner and receiver, rushed for a NFL-leading 1555 yards and,
with another 614 yards on 62 pass receptions, also led the league with 2169
all-purpose yards. He received consensus-first team All-NFL honors as well as
being selected to the Pro Bowl.
2002 Season Summary
Appeared and
started in 14 of 16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Rushing
Attempts – 313
[7]
Most
attempts, game - 31 (for 104 yds.) vs. Buffalo 11/17
Yards – 1615 [3]
Most yards,
game – 197 yards (on 23 carries) at Seattle 11/24
Average gain
– 5.2 [6]
TDs – 21 [1]
100-yard
rushing games – 9
Pass
Receiving
Receptions – 70
Most
receptions, game – 9 (for 81 yds.) at NY Jets 10/6
Yards – 672
Most yards,
game - 110 (on 7 catches) at Seattle 11/24
Average gain
– 9.6
TDs – 3
100-yard
receiving games – 1
Passing
Attempts – 1
Completions –
0
Yards – 0
TD passes – 0
Interceptions
– 0
All-Purpose
yards – 2287 [2, 1st in AFC]
Scoring
TDs – 24 [1]
Points – 144 [1]
Awards & Honors:
NFL Offensive
Player of the Year: AP
1st
team All-NFL: AP, PFWA, Sporting News
1st
team All-AFC: Pro Football Weekly
Pro Bowl
Chiefs went 8-8
to finish fourth in the AFC West while leading the NFL in scoring (467 points)
and touchdowns (57).
Aftermath:
Holmes missed
the last two games of the 2002 season with a hip injury, but following
off-season surgery he had another big year in 2003. He rushed for 1420 yards,
caught a career-high 74 passes for 690 yards, and broke the NFL single-season record
for touchdowns with 27. He was a consensus first-team All-NFL and Pro Bowl
selection for the third straight year. Holmes was off to another fine year in
2004 before a knee injury felled him halfway through – he was leading the
league in rushing (892 yards) and TDs (14) before being shelved after eight
games. A spinal injury limited him to seven games in ’05 and he missed all of
2006. Holmes returned during the 2007 season and appeared in four games before
a neck injury forced his retirement. Overall, Holmes rushed for 8172 yards on
1780 carries (4.6 avg.) and caught 339 passes for 2962 yards, scoring a total
of 94 touchdowns.
--
MVP Profiles feature players who were named MVP or
Player of the Year in the NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974), or
USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press, Pro Football
Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press
International, The Sporting News, Maxwell Club – Bert Bell Award, or the league
itself). Also includes Associated Press NFL Offensive and Defensive Players of
the Year.
[Updated 11/30/14]
[Updated 11/30/14]
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