Priest Holmes
player of American football
Priest Anthony Holmes (born October 7, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He started his career with the Baltimore Ravens but experienced breakout success after signing with the Kansas City Chiefs as a free agent in 2001. During his seven-year stint with the Chiefs, Holmes was a three-time All-Pro, three-time Pro Bowl selection and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2002. Prior to playing for the Chiefs, Holmes earned a Super Bowl ring with the Ravens, who'd signed him as an undrafted free agent in 1997, in their 2000 Super Bowl XXXV victory over the New York Giants. He rushed for just over 2,000 yards in four seasons in Baltimore. Holmes sat out the 2006 season with a neck injury, and after a brief comeback attempt in 2007, he retired from the NFL. One of the best undrafted rushers in NFL history, his 8,172 rushing yards is the second most by an undrafted player in league history.
Holmes played college football for the Texas Longhorns. He was inducted into the University of Texas Hall of Honor and the Texas High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. He was inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame in 2014.
Early life
Holmes was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
The public source identifies “Priest Holmes” as player of American football. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Priest, Holmes and player.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2761520. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1973, 2001, 2002 and 1997.
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This entry incorporates text from “Priest Holmes” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.