<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Holmes planning on joining Chiefs for campBy Adam SchefterNFL Analyst Adam Schefter's "Around the League" reports and commentaries can be seen regularly on NFL Total Access. (July 25, 2007) -- Unpredictable stories go to training camp along with players. But none can be any more unlikely than this: While Michael Vick will not be at training camp, it now looks as if Priest Holmes will. Chiefs players are now telling each other that, after nearly two full years away from football to nurse a spinal injury, the 33-year-old Holmes has been given medical clearance to play and he is planning to participate in this summer's training camp. Running backs Michael Bennett and Larry Johnson, to name two players, are aware of Holmes' plans. Holmes' agent, Todd France, declined comment. There also are other strong signs pointing to a Holmes comeback. With camp kicking off Friday, Holmes still has yet to inform anyone in the Chiefs organization that he plans to retire. The feeling within the organization now is that he will attempt to resume his career. If he does, he would be on the field Friday, while the embattled Vick is not. "Priest is counting on our roster right now as an active player," one Chiefs official said recently. Nor does it seem as if it will change anytime soon. Holmes' return, if it indeed happens as now is expected, makes sense on a number of levels. But Holmes repeatedly has defied odds throughout his career, whether it was going from an undrafted free agent to a Pro Bowl running back, or coming back from other injuries that others thought he might not be able to overcome. Holmes also never filed retirement papers; nor does he have any plans to do so any time. Holmes has been feeling better, good enough to attempt what many thought to be an unlikely comeback. And if Holmes returns, it also provides the Chiefs with an additional dose of leverage in their contract disagreement with Johnson, who has one year remaining on his current deal. Johnson and the Chiefs are at least $14 million apart in guaranteed money, and the total might even be as high as $17 million. Each side appears to be entrenched in its stance, and Johnson intends to skip camp until he has a new contract. With Holmes healthy and on the field, the Chiefs would have, if nothing else, a slightly higher degree of security at the running back position. They still would not know whether Holmes would be able to make it to and through the season, but they would have a back that has produced like few others in NFL history. It all creates an intriguing storyline, one few expected. In a year when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's two biggest issues have been dogfighting and "making it rain" -- and who could have predicted that -- there now is another unlikely storyline shaping up in Kansas City. Training camp is on Holmes' radar; it is not on Vick's. Link</div><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Chiefs RB Holmes to report for camp NFL.com wire reports KANSAS CITY, Mo. (July 25, 2007) -- Kansas City Chiefs running back Priest Holmes has informed the team that he intends to report to training camp. Holmes told Chiefs president Carl Peterson that he wants to play for the Chiefs in 2007, team spokesman Brad Kuhbander said. Holmes is under contract with the Chiefs through 2009. "In my conversation with Priest, he was excited about playing," Peterson said in a news release. Peterson said the 33-year-old Holmes might be placed on the physically unable to perform list initially to gauge his conditioning and to see how he feels after noncontact drills. He has not played since Oct. 30, 2005, when he was injured by a hit by linebacker Shawne Merriman in a game at San Diego. The hit left him with head and neck trauma, diagnosed by three spinal specialists. "I have said many times that I would never count this player out like so many did after his hip surgery," Peterson said, referring to an injury Holmes had in 2002 that prompted the Chiefs to take Larry Johnson with their first pick in the 2003 draft. "He's a very unique human being." Peterson said the team would "take it slow" to see how well Holmes was doing, "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," Peterson said. Holmes was cleared to play after being examined by the team's orthopedic doctors in Miami, Kuhbander said. The 5-foot-9, 213-pound Holmes spent 2006 on the physically unable to perform list. Since joining the Chiefs in 2001, Holmes ranks first in the NFL in averaging 97.3 yards per game and 136 yards from scrimmage. Link</div>Woohoo! Go Priest!
