Post by chiefssalinas on Jul 11, 2003 7:03:04 GMT -5
Jason Whitlock
By Jason Whitlock
Columnist
Jason Whitlock
Please, God, let me be wrong, but my gut feeling is that we'll never see the real Priest Holmes on the football field again. Not the Priest Holmes who was one part Walter Payton, one part O.J. Simpson, one part Emmitt Smith and an occasional dash of Barry Sanders.
That Priest Holmes disappeared near the Denver Broncos goal line, dragged to the ground from behind, failed by an overworked and tired hip.
I didn't have the courage to write this the other day, in the hours after Priest broke his silence with the local media and talked about his injury and contract status.
But when the day was done, my feeling was that Priest was done. It wouldn't surprise me if Priest never carried the ball in another NFL regular-season game. I've felt this way ever since he missed the Pro Bowl.
We're talking about a hip injury. Heck, Priest admitted Wednesday that a hip injury is more complicated than a knee injury. You can play on a bad knee, a torn ACL. A running back can't play with a bad hip.
That's why Priest is so desperate. You know he's pulling tractors? Yeah, it's part of his rehab program. Priest said Carl Peterson thinks he's a bit foolish for tugging a tractor down a field. Priest wants to test his hip.
Problem is tractors don't hit back. Tractors don't spear the crown of a helmet deep into a running back's side. And we won't know a darn thing about Priest's hip until Bill Romanowski plows into it at 15 mph late in the fourth quarter of a midseason game. That's when we'll know Priest is Priest. When he gets up from that hit, carries the ball a 21st time, rumbles for 4 more yards and accelerates away from the pile.
Forgive me, Chiefs fans. I'm not optimistic we're going to see that day. I've felt this way ever since Peterson plucked Larry Johnson with a first-round pick. Why draft L.J. or any back with a top pick, if you believe Priest is going to be OK?
It doesn't make sense.
The myth of a healthy Priest Holmes is nothing more than a Peterson-organized season-ticket promotion. Seriously. Peterson's continued employment at Arrowhead is tied to season-ticket sales. It certainly doesn't have anything to do with playoff victories, playoff appearances or winning Super Bowls.
Do you think anyone -- Holmes or Peterson -- has been honest about Priest's hip? No one wanted us to know that Holmes was having surgery.
Priest acknowledged experiencing significant pain the first three months after the injury. After his arthroscopic surgery in March, Priest hobbled around on crutches for a month. Now he's dragging tractors around. I'll be impressed when he's dragging Donnie Edwards across a first-down marker.
On Wednesday, for the first time, I heard the phrase "career threatening" used in relation to Holmes' injury. Remember when it first happened how everyone in the Chiefs organization pretty much said the injury wasn't serious and it was nothing like the Bo Jackson hip injury. "Career threatening" wasn't even part of the discussion then.
Guess who used the phrase "career threatening" on Wednesday?
Priest Holmes.
I'd love nothing more than to be wrong about Priest's hip. He could be bigger in Kansas City than Joe Montana and Marcus Allen combined. The guy has loads of yet-to-be-unveiled personality.
But if I had to bet, I'd wager that he's done. No more Pro Bowls. No more 1,000-yard seasons. No more Priest Holmes.
The odds aren't really in his favor. NFL backs don't have long careers anyway. Holmes' durability has always been questionable. The Chiefs, trying to compensate for a poor defense and a suspect passing game, saddled Holmes up and ran him into the ground.
No one's the bad guy. It was just business as usual in the NotForLong. Well, I guess I'm the bad guy for having such a cynical view.
By Jason Whitlock
Columnist
Jason Whitlock
Please, God, let me be wrong, but my gut feeling is that we'll never see the real Priest Holmes on the football field again. Not the Priest Holmes who was one part Walter Payton, one part O.J. Simpson, one part Emmitt Smith and an occasional dash of Barry Sanders.
That Priest Holmes disappeared near the Denver Broncos goal line, dragged to the ground from behind, failed by an overworked and tired hip.
I didn't have the courage to write this the other day, in the hours after Priest broke his silence with the local media and talked about his injury and contract status.
But when the day was done, my feeling was that Priest was done. It wouldn't surprise me if Priest never carried the ball in another NFL regular-season game. I've felt this way ever since he missed the Pro Bowl.
We're talking about a hip injury. Heck, Priest admitted Wednesday that a hip injury is more complicated than a knee injury. You can play on a bad knee, a torn ACL. A running back can't play with a bad hip.
That's why Priest is so desperate. You know he's pulling tractors? Yeah, it's part of his rehab program. Priest said Carl Peterson thinks he's a bit foolish for tugging a tractor down a field. Priest wants to test his hip.
Problem is tractors don't hit back. Tractors don't spear the crown of a helmet deep into a running back's side. And we won't know a darn thing about Priest's hip until Bill Romanowski plows into it at 15 mph late in the fourth quarter of a midseason game. That's when we'll know Priest is Priest. When he gets up from that hit, carries the ball a 21st time, rumbles for 4 more yards and accelerates away from the pile.
Forgive me, Chiefs fans. I'm not optimistic we're going to see that day. I've felt this way ever since Peterson plucked Larry Johnson with a first-round pick. Why draft L.J. or any back with a top pick, if you believe Priest is going to be OK?
It doesn't make sense.
The myth of a healthy Priest Holmes is nothing more than a Peterson-organized season-ticket promotion. Seriously. Peterson's continued employment at Arrowhead is tied to season-ticket sales. It certainly doesn't have anything to do with playoff victories, playoff appearances or winning Super Bowls.
Do you think anyone -- Holmes or Peterson -- has been honest about Priest's hip? No one wanted us to know that Holmes was having surgery.
Priest acknowledged experiencing significant pain the first three months after the injury. After his arthroscopic surgery in March, Priest hobbled around on crutches for a month. Now he's dragging tractors around. I'll be impressed when he's dragging Donnie Edwards across a first-down marker.
On Wednesday, for the first time, I heard the phrase "career threatening" used in relation to Holmes' injury. Remember when it first happened how everyone in the Chiefs organization pretty much said the injury wasn't serious and it was nothing like the Bo Jackson hip injury. "Career threatening" wasn't even part of the discussion then.
Guess who used the phrase "career threatening" on Wednesday?
Priest Holmes.
I'd love nothing more than to be wrong about Priest's hip. He could be bigger in Kansas City than Joe Montana and Marcus Allen combined. The guy has loads of yet-to-be-unveiled personality.
But if I had to bet, I'd wager that he's done. No more Pro Bowls. No more 1,000-yard seasons. No more Priest Holmes.
The odds aren't really in his favor. NFL backs don't have long careers anyway. Holmes' durability has always been questionable. The Chiefs, trying to compensate for a poor defense and a suspect passing game, saddled Holmes up and ran him into the ground.
No one's the bad guy. It was just business as usual in the NotForLong. Well, I guess I'm the bad guy for having such a cynical view.
