11/8/01

Holmes making mark during first season in Kansas City

AUSTIN, Texas -- Former UT running back Priest Holmes has been one of the National Football League's most productive backs during the first half of the 2001 season. Holmes, who signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as a free agent last spring, is off to the most productive start of his five-year career.

Holmes is coming off a season-best 181 yards (on 30 carries) at San Diego last weekend, his third 100-yard performance of the season. Currently second in the NFL with 771 rushing yards (on 135 carries), he is on pace to become Kansas City's first 1,000-yard rusher since Christian Okoye had a club-record 1,480 yards in 1989. Holmes, who also has 26 catches for 209 yards and six total touchdowns (five rush/one rec) this season, was a member of the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl Championship team a year ago.

Kansas City head coach Dick Vermeil, in his first year at the helm of the Chiefs, has been pleased with his running back's performance this year.

"We thought he would come in here and be a good starting back," Vermeil recently told The Associated Press . "He's the No. 2 rusher in the league, which I think puts him in a category of better than good. He's playing beyond our expectations."

Holmes, who set a career high with 1,008 yards for the Ravens in 1998, has rushed for 2,813 yards during his NFL career. One of the more versatile backs in the league, he also has caught 114 passes for 794 yards, including a career-best 43 (for 260 yards) in 1998.

The San Antonio native rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns in the Horns' 37-27 upset victory against No. 3 Nebraska in the 1996 Big 12 Championship game. Holmes rushed for 1,276 yards and 20 touchdowns during his four-year Longhorns career (1992-96) and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1994 Sun Bowl after rushing for 161 yards and four touchdowns in UT's 35-31 victory against North Carolina.