A Modest Tribute to Priest Holmes

Here's to Priest Holmes. He went undrafted coming out of Texas because he played in the shadow of Ricky Williams. After signing to the Ravens as a free agent, he won a Super Bowl playing in the shadow of Jamal Lewis. (Ironic that the two players that Holmes shared a backfield with were exactly opposite in terms of character.)

He came to Kansas City with a chance to finally shine as a star in his own right. He went to work quickly setting records and winning games. His performances dovetailed nicely with the boom of fantasy football and he became the premier player in this growing hobby. Unfortunately, as is the case with most aging running backs, injuries were the only thing that could slow him down.

But something unexpectated happenned. His backup, 3rd year RB Larry Johnson, who had only seen limited carries in the shadow of Holmes, was even better that the starter. Here's a look at the gaudy numbers that LJ put up, even though he was only the starter for the last 9 games:

1750 yards, 21 TDS

LJ ran for over 100 yards in 9 consecutive games. The only people with more are Barry Sanders and Marcus Allen. Johnson's streak is special because they were the first 9 games that he has started and it is still active. Shaun Alexander became the NFL MVP this year with 1880/28. Only Alexander and Tiki Barber ran for more yards than LJ. All of this left Chiefs fans wondering what could Larry Johnson could have done starting all 16 games. Although you can't prove that LJ could have taken 100 more carries without an injury, his pace through the 2nd half of the season would have broken both the NFL records for yards and touchdowns in a season.

So where does that leave Priest Holmes? Maybe he has minimal trade value, but my guess is that he'll come back and play in someone else's shadow again. It's a role he's used to. Here's to a great player and a great person. I bet he's truly happy for Larry and knows that he was able to teach a young back how to be patient and trust his blockers. I just hope that people don't forget that Priest is a pretty darn good football player.

Update: Jan. 19th: Herman Edwards names Johnson the #1 starting running back. It was the only move to make. Hopefully, he can star as Bettis has in a minimal role gaining key yards when called upon.