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PRIEST HOLMES TO PLAY THIS YEAR? by Michael David Smith
Adam Schefter of NFL Network is reporting that Kansas City Chiefs running back Priest Holmes -- assumed by almost everyone to be on the road to retirement -- is likely to participate in training camp.
Per Schefter, the 33-year-old Holmes has been medically cleared to play after spending two years recuperating from a spinal injury. The feeling within the Chiefs' organization is that Holmes hasn't said he's retiring and hasn't filed retirement papers with the league, and that he'll be on the field Friday when the Chiefs open training camp.
“Priest is counting on our roster right now as an active player,” one Chiefs official told Schefter.
Holmes' last game was against the San Diego Chargers in October of 2005. A brutal hit from Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman left him with severe head and neck trauma. The combination of the severity of the injury and Holmes' age led most people to conclude that it would end his career. But that conclusion may have been premature.
The most significant part of the potential return of Holmes may be that it will provide the Chiefs with leverage in their contract negotiations with running back Larry Johnson, who is unhappy with his current deal, which has one year remaining. Johnson thinks he's at least as good a player as Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney, who got a $30 million guarantee, and that he should be paid accordingly. The team thinks Johnson's guarantee should be about half of that.
A lengthy holdout is possible, and if Holmes is healthy and able to play at even close to the level he played at a few years ago, the Chiefs won't feel as much pressure to cave to Johnson's demands.
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PRIEST IS RETURNING
The Kansas City Chiefs have announced that running back Priest Holmes will report for training camp after missing all of the 2006 season with a neck injury.
Holmes informed G.M. Carl Peterson of his decision on Wednesday.
"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 said in a release. "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."
If healthy, Holmes gives the Chiefs a great insurance policy in the event that Larry Johnson follows through with his plans to hold out, giving the team greater leverage in the negotiations. It'll therefore be interesting to see how these two guys get along if/when L.J. shows up.
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Cowher was driving very conservatively, and it was easy to predict how he was planning on getting to the stadium.
It seemed as if he was driving not to crash and relying on his tires to pound their way down the asphalt about 3 yards at a time.
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PRIEST IS RETURNING
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