RB Priest Holmes informs Chiefs he will Report to Training Camp on Saturday

Jul 25, 2007, 2:01:55 PM

Kansas City Chiefs RB Priest Holmes informed President Carl Peterson on Wednesday that he intends to report to training camp at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls on Saturday. Holmes has passed a physical and has been cleared to begin activities with the club. Holmes is under contract with the Chiefs through the 2009 campaign.

Peterson received a call from Todd France (Holmes’ representative) and indicated that Priest had made a decision that he wants to play for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007. Peterson then received a phone call from Holmes in which he personally reiterated his intentions for 2007. The Chiefs then coordinated visits with the team’s orthopedic physicians and specialists in Miami. Everyone conferred following the examination and it was the opinion of the doctors that Priest could play NFL football in 2007.

“In my conversation with Priest, he was excited about playing,” Peterson explained. “Later, Herm (Edwards) and I sat down with Priest here in Kansas City and discussed his decision and our thoughts on his return. We may put him on active PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) initially to gauge his football conditioning and to see how he feels after non-contact drills. But he indicated very strongly to me that he wanted to play and his motivation was to help the Kansas City Chiefs win a championship.

“For myself, I think without question by what Priest Holmes has contributed to this franchise, he deserves the right and opportunity to play again for the Chiefs,” Peterson continued. “He wants to do that and we’re going to afford him that opportunity. From a personal standpoint, certainly I have said many times that I would never count this player out like so many did after his hip surgery. He’s a very unique human being, a very unique talent and I think he will prove some people wrong again. We are going to take it slow to gauge and monitor where he is every day, but there’s no question that if Priest Holmes is close to what he was before his injury, he’ll make a significant impact on the offensive side of the football.”

“Obviously Priest Holmes has been a tremendous contributor to the Kansas City Chiefs,” head coach Herm Edwards commented. “The combination of Larry Johnson and Priest Holmes has previously proved very difficult to stop in the past. At this point, we will need to proceed slowly to determine where he is from a health and conditioning standpoint. Hopefully, he’s able to come back and continue his career with the Chiefs. I believe Priest Holmes is a team guy and has indicated to me his desire to help this team. If he’s able to come back, he understands and accepts the fact that he would have a different role than when he was the starter. I look forward to monitoring his progress throughout training camp.”

Holmes (5-9, 213) ranks first in Chiefs history with 5,933 rushing yards, 1,275 rushing attempts, 76 rushing TDs and 83 total TDs, accumulating those numbers in his first five seasons (2001-05) with the Chiefs, starting 61 games over that span. He spent the 2006 campaign on the Physically-Unable-to-Perform List after playing in his most recent contest at San Diego (10/30/05).

In addition to his rushing exploits, Holmes also caught 246 passes for 2,360 yards (9.6 avg.) with seven TDs. The three-time Pro Bowler ranks first in team history with 1,521 touches from scrimmage and is tied with RB Larry Johnson for the top mark in team annals with 24 career 100-yard rushing games.

Since joining the Chiefs in 2001, Holmes ranks first in the NFL by averaging 97.3 rushing yards per game and 136.0 scrimmage yards per game. His 2,360 receiving yards rank as the fifth-highest total in the NFL by a running back since the start of the 2001 campaign. Holmes scored 62 rushing touchdowns from 2002-04, the second-best three-year total in NFL history.

Holmes has played in 109 career regular season games (80 starts) with Baltimore (’97-00) and Kansas City (2001-06), carrying the ball 1,734 times for 8,035 yards (4.6 avg.) with 86 TDs and has caught 334 passes for 2,945 yards (8.8 avg.) with eight scores. Holmes has also seen duty in five playoff contests (two starts), rushing 42 times for 221 yards (5.3 avg.) with two TDs and was part of Baltimore’s squad that captured a victory in Super Bowl XXXV.

The San Antonio, Texas prep product entered the league as a rookie free agent with Baltimore before signing with the Chiefs as an unrestricted free agent in 2001. Holmes attended Marshall High School in San Antonio and concluded his career at the University of Texas with 252 carries for 1,276 yards (5.1 avg.) with 20 TDs.

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