But my thing is like, I was able to like reduce myself, which is for the betterment of the team. But I also knew I was like, ‘We’ve got something special with Priest Holmes.’ We had so much talent on our team from an offensive standpoint, it was insane. Like even if I play tough, as a fullback, we found ways that just you could throw the ball to me, you could run the screen, draw, whatever. “I went back to fullback, and then all of a sudden, like, we started figuring out ways. “I knew it was gonna be better for the team,” Richardson said. The Chiefs finished the 2001 season 6-10, but Holmes earned All-Pro honors in Dick Vermeil’s first season as head coach in Kansas City. At the time, that number was good for the most in a single season in franchise history, but he’d go on to break that record again (as would Larry Johnson). In his first year with the Chiefs, Holmes became the first undrafted player to lead the NFL in rushing with 1,555 yards for the 2001 NFL season. And Coach Vermeil was looking like, ‘I’ve never had a player ever who was that unselfish? Who would do the best thing for the team?’ So for me, it was like, me, I’m getting 20 carries a game, you know, have my biggest game against the Broncos 120 yards.” I told Priest, ‘Hey, man, let’s talk to Coach Vermeil.’ He’s like, ‘What’s going on?’ So I take them upstairs and say, ‘Hey, Coach, Priest needs to be the feature back,’ and Coach Vermeil was looking at me like, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘Listen, Priest needs to be the feature back. But I saw in Priest who came from Baltimore and was like lighting it up. They just paid me like a tailback and I was like the feature running back. So, I went to Coach Vermeil, and I said, ‘You know what, we got to get Priest Holmes on the field. “And all of a sudden, I actually went to Coach (Dick) Vermeil. “So I was the feature guy and then they brought in Priest (Holmes),” Richardson began. The three-time Pro Bowler spoke candidly about the 2001 season in Kansas City and his impact on the emergence of Priest Holmes as an NFL star with the Chiefs. The Chiefs Hall of Fame fullback was the featured guest on Tuesday night’s Twitter Spaces hosted by The Jets Lounge fielding fan questions spanning several moments in his career. Tony Richardson played ten of his seventeen seasons in the NFL with the Chiefs from 1995-to-2005, serving as a halfback and Pro Bowler at fullback. A native of San Antonio, he is the father of two sons, De’Andre and Jekovan.The Kansas City Chiefs have been fortunate to have great talent at the running back position that has paced the league through different eras.Ī vital part in the success of every high-caliber halfback has been great blocking and leadership on the offensive line or a star fullback. He was the 2002 NFL Offensive Player of the Year and played in Super Bowl XXXV with the Baltimore Ravens. He was a three-time Pro Bowl selection, who rushed for 8,172 yards during his 10 seasons in the NFL and accumulated 11,185 all-purpose yards. Holmes played in the NFL with Baltimore (1997-00) and Kansas City (2001-07). A member of the Texas Hall of Honor, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens in 1997. When he completed his Longhorn career, Holmes had rushed for 1,276 yards on 252 carries and 20 touchdowns. After another defensive stand by the Texas defense, eight of the 10 plays on the game-winning drive went to Holmes, who scored from five yards out. He capped an eight-play, 68-yard drive with 6:35 remaining with a nine-yard run to pull the Longhorns within three points. Holmes finished the day with 27 carries for 161 yards and tied the Sun Bowl record with four touchdowns. He carried the ball six times for 45 yards in the third quarter and added 12 carries for 61 yards in the fourth quarter. He rushed five times for 36 yards in the first quarter and carried the ball four times for 29 yards in the second quarter. Like a locomotive, Holmes gained momentum as the day went along. Texas led 14-7 midway through the second quarter and 21-17 at the half, but a pair of fourth quarter Tar Heel touchdowns had seemingly put the game out of reach for Texas, as North Carolina took a 31-21 lead with just over nine minutes to play. For his efforts that day and his contributions to the game of football, Holmes became the 25th member of the Legends of the Sun Bowl. 30, 1994, in front of a then-record crowd of 50,612 fans. In what was voted as the greatest game in the history of the Hyundai Sun Bowl, Holmes put the hopes of Texas on his back and carried the Longhorns home to victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels, 35-31 on Dec. If ever one guy made a single difference in a game, Priest Holmes may have been that guy.
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