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NFL, University of Texas

Holmes, Priest

utud11 holmes ATApoff02 holmesleaf04 holmessp99 holmesleaf03 r&s holmespoff01 holmespoff04 holmes

Cards: UT Upper Deck 2011, UT Upper Deck 2011 All-Time Alumni, Leaf Rookies & Stars 2004, Playoff Contenders 2001, 2002, 2004, SP 1999, SP 2004 Authentic Materials, TNT 2013 Greats.
Acquired: In Person 2013, GMC NFL Texas Tour (October & November)

The GMC NFL Texas event in October was a big success for me. I was able to get plenty of big names with minimal effort, knocking them off my set needs. Priest Holmes was the first to arrive on Saturday, and there was just about zero people in line. This made for a great and more personable experience with Priest, since he could spend more time with each and every fan. When I got up to him, I requested the two UT cards, a photo for myself, and two personalized photos for my collecting friends. When I told Priest that it seemed like a lot and apologized, emphasizing that I am not an EBayer, he kindly said, “Anything for a fan.” Priest has been doing a lot of analyst work for The Longhorn Network. He had been doing signings in Dallas and San Antonio, but nothing around Austin. It had begun to work me up into a frenzy to get him. In fact we talked about his workholmes on LHN, and about him covering Ricky Williams statue unveiling that we both attended.

At the November event I had properly reloaded for Priest’s appearance with a boat load of cards. I test drove all morning so that I could get as many autographs I needed. To be courteous to other people in line, I only got 6 the first time around and asked if I could come back through. Again, Priest was gracious and threw in an autographed photo for being so thoughtful. I came through again and presented a second group of cards. He was shocked as to how many I had and the variety of them. He really liked the custom TNT card I did, and signed kindly everything he saw. We had a brief conversation about how all his cards were bursting with action, his Baltimore SP card, and how some players have problems signing cards for certain teams that they played for. He said he had no hard feelings for the Ravens and even owns a home in the city. Afterwards I told the woman who was with him coyly that I would ask for her autograph too if she had a card, since she was so pretty, which got a nice laugh out of Priest.

sp04 holmesPriest Holmes was not drafted coming out of the University of Texas. There were always flashes of brilliance there early on in his career at UT, such as the 1994 Sun Bowl MVP, when he rushed for 161 yards on 27 carries and a whopping 4 touchdowns against North Carolina (ironically coached by future head coach Mack Brown). A knee injury in 1995, and the emergence of future Heisman Winner Ricky Williams and scatback Shon Mitchell though forced Holmes to bide his time. He’d work his way into the lineup as a short yardage change of pace back, but really, Holmes was a runningback itching to wear down defenses with his well conditioned and aggressive play.

tnt13g holmesSigning with the Baltimore Ravens in 1997 as a free agent, the Ravens were a team still searching for an identity after their separation from Cleveland. Runningback was settled with Bam Morris and Earnest Byner as starters. Again Holmes had to patiently bide his time suiting up for just 7 games. He didn’t have to wait long as the Ravens retooled their whole offensive backfield in 1998 making him the team’s starter. Priest turned in a respectable season rushing for 1008 yards on 233 carries while also showing a nice touch as an option out of the backfield with 43 receptions. In 1999 the team utud11 holmesapproached the backfield load by committee, with Holmes splitting time with Errict Rhett. After that, it seemed like Holmes college experience was repeating itself in the pros, as the team benched him in favor of juggernaut Jamal Lewis. The Ravens offense rode Lewis (1364 yards) and Holmes (588 yards) to a Super Bowl victory after the 2000 season.

The third chapter of Holmes’ career began after the season. He’d sign as a free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs. He immediately became the team’s bell cow back under new head coach Dick Vermeil, and he ran Priest like he was the second coming of mem holmesMarshall Faulk. Holmes went on to lead the NFL in rushing yards in 2001 with 1555 yards, and 62 receptions out of the backfield. His 2,169 yards from scrimmage was also tops in the league. In 2002, he’d top his career best with 1,615 yards, 70 receptions, and a league leading 21 touchdowns. Again his 2,287 yards from scrimmage led the NFL. In 2003 he’d rush for 1420 yards, grab a career high 74 receptions, and set an NFL record with 27 rushing touchdowns (since broken). In all three seasons in Kansas City (2001-2003) he earned Pro Bowl and All Pro Honors. While off to the same feverish pace in 2004, averaging a league high 111.5 yards a game, Priest injured his hip and spent half the season on IR. Still he managed to tag on 14 more touchdowns to his career totals.  Refreshed for the 2005 season, Priest started 7 games in 2005, before suffering a cumulative barrage of hits to his head and neck in a contest against San Diego. Many speculated that Holmes’ career was over as his rehabilitation continued through the 2006 season. In 2007 he’d make a return that’d even surprise the Chiefs, starting two games in place for Larry Johnson, but after mem holmes 2noticing tingling in his extremities after taking some hits, he decided it’d be best to hang up his cleats for his family and his health, right there and then.

Priest’s impact on the Chiefs’ organization can not be understated. In 63 starts he ran for 6,070 yards, 76 touchdowns, and accounted for 8,447 yards from scrimmage. He is the franchise’s all-time leader in total touchdowns (83), yards, and rushing touchdowns cementing Priest as one of the greatest street free agent finds of all time. While Priest never won a Super Bowl ring, during a 3 and a half year period, he was the most  unstoppable force in the league. He is an avid Kansas City fan, and hosts radio shows and attends Sunday game events frequently supporting his old team.

I’m pretty surprised and happy with the results I’ve had in the past two meetings with Priest. I can probably say that I’ve closed the book on the cards that I wanted to get autographed by him… but you never know….

G/Gs 113/82     Rush 1780     Yds 8172   Avg 4.6    Td  86     Lg 72t   |
Rec 339     Yds   2962    Avg 8.7      Td 8      Lg 67

NFL

Sharper, Jamie

ud02tex sharperCard: Upper Deck Houston Texans 2002
Acquired: IP 9/1/2013, Houston Texans Kemah Boardwalk Kickoff
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o Home
See Also: Texans Ambassadors

After carving a great stint out at UVA and helping the team to an ACC title in 1995, the Baltimore Ravens selected Jamie Sharper with the 34th pick of the 2nd round in the 1997 NFL draft. An unsung, integral part to the Ravens 2000 title run Jamie’s defining moment with the franchise came in Super Bowl XXXV against the Giants (and former Virginia teammate Tiki Barber) when the historic Baltimore defense held New York without an offensive touchdown in the 35-7 rout.

In 2002, the Houston Texans were conducting their expansion draft from a pool of NFL veterans. Facing salary cap issues, the Ravens left Sharper exposed. In the weeks running up to the special draft for my newly adopted team, I had paid special attention to the list and pegged Sharper as the highest rated player available.  The Texans selected him with their 5th pick, and along with fellow teammate Jermaine Lewis, he joined the fledgling franchise.

Sharper fit well in the Texans’ 3-4 base alignment brought in by head coach Dom Capers. Slotted inside at RILB, Jamie was one of the better linebackers in the league, manhandling ball carriers and marauding for the occasional fumble. He’d help anchor the linebacking corps for the Texans for the next 3 seasons. Defensively the Texans were actually pretty good, but because the offense was so bad along the exterior of the line and quarterback David Carr was pressed into immediate duty, the team had few high points after surprising the Dallas Cowboys in their first regular season game 19-10. In 2003, Jamie led the NFL with a whopping 301 combined tackles, but in the meantime though, and after 3 seasons, most of the expansion players’ contracts matured like a ticking time bomb.  The Texans were pressed into immediate Salary Cap action. Purging nearly all the players from the expansion draft, the thought from the team was by going younger and faster at linebacker, they could also go cheaper and still remain competitive. I was blindsided and incensed. Jamie was given the option of seeking a trade, but because of his larger salary cap number, he eventually was cut and signed with the Seattle Seahawks. The Texans in the meantime were not competitive. They finished a dismal 2-14 and owner Bob McNair wisely cleaned house after the 2005 season. It was a blessing in disguise for Jamie.  In his final season in the NFL, he was a member of the Seahawks first Super Bowl appearance, but a knee injury ended his season after 136 straight NFL starts, and unfortunately his career.

sharperI had written Jamie back in 2010, but did not hear back from him. The Texans have an extremely active alumni association of local former players, (much to the organization’s credit,) that reaches out to fans throughout the year. Missing out on a few Academy appearances, since I just couldn’t justify driving 200+ miles for one autograph, I decided to go to the Texans 2013 Kickoff at Kemah- which is a team rally to get fans excited for the upcoming season. Knowing that 3 players were to make an appearance, I packed all my ambassador cards, and lucked out with Jamie. After surviving a blistering 3 hour wait in 100+ degree and 100% humidity, while fighting off a pack of line cutters, I eventually was able to get Jamie on this 2002 expansion franchise card from Upper Deck. He was also very impressed by my Jamie Sharper jersey (yes I am probably the only person who owns one) that I was wearing and offered to sign it, but I told him no, since I like to wear it and probably needed to wash it after waiting so long in the heat. (I think he was a bit disappointed though, so I may retire it with an autograph the next time, if I see him again.) When I asked him which ball carrier he hated or feared the most to tackle, he took a second to respond and told me, “Definitely Barry Sanders.”

G/Gs  136/135    Tac           Sac  25.5       Fum  13        Int   2      Yds  49     Avg    24.5     Td 0    Lg 45

NFL

Smith, Marcus

bow08 mar smithCard: 2008 Bowman Signs of the Future
Acquired: 2012, Target Autograph Memorabilia Edition

Marcus Smith is a receiver who played for the New Mexico Lobos. Converted from tailback to wide receiver he had a breakout year in 2007 finishing as one of the the Mountain West Conference’s top players posting over 1000 yards receiving. Smith had 67 plays of over 20 yards while playing for the Lobos, and displayed tenacity as a special teams gunner recording 26 tackles. His 3,746 all purpose yards rank 6th all time in Lobos history.  Marcus displays explosive speed, is a nationally ranked track man, and a multi-faceted athlete.

The Ravens drafted Smith in the 4th round of the 2008 draft but did not see any time in the lineup at receiver. Instead he again showed a knack for making the downfield special teams tackle as a gunner, with 6 tackles his rookie season. With an ACL sidelining him in 2009, he returned in 2010 to record another 21 tackles, but was released in the final cutdowns of 2011.