Ex Chiefs Priest Holmes Gets Bizarre All-Quarter Century Team Honor
Ex Chiefs Priest Holmes Gets Bizarre All-Quarter Century Team Honor originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
This is like when you give the cashier a $1 bill and she gives you back change for a $5.
Priest Holmes a better running back than Adrian Peterson? Hmm. Do Kansas City Chiefs' fans admit the truth, or sheepishly smile and take joy in the controversial honor?
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ESPN unveiled its NFL All-Quarter Century Team this week. It aimed at selecting a team of the best players and coaches from 2000-25. Two glaring problems:
1. It was compiled by two analytics geeks named Aaron Schatz and Seth Walder.
2. It included Holmes as the team's top running back, and totally snubbed Peterson.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce, special teams coach Dave Toub and defensive tackle Chris Jones were also named to the elite team.
For a franchise that had to wait from 1969 to 2019 between championships, the fan base will gladly take any honor. But ESPN's top four running backs of the 21st Century are: Holmes, Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry and LaDainian Tomlinson.
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Priest had a spectacular three-year run in which he led the league in rushing yards once and touchdowns twice. But, let's face it, he only played seven seasons in the last 25 years and in three of those failed to gain 1,000 yards.
In explaining why they chose Henry over Peterson and Tomlinson for their third spot, the authors cited some sort of alphabet soup.
"These decisions were made mostly on statistical output, focusing on peak seasons while still rewarding longevity," the story reads. "We relied heavily on FTN's DYAR metric (defense-adjusted yards above replacement), which calculates a player's value over the course of the season compared to a replacement-level baseline. Other advanced statistics were also taken into account."
Something A.I. will never (at least not yet) replace: Watching games.
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Again, no shade at Priest, who was justly enshrined into the Chiefs Hall of Honor in 2014. As an undrafted free agent who started his career with the Baltimore Ravens, with the Chiefs he produced a spectacular six-year span making three consecutive Pro Bowls, three straight All-Pro teams and producing 6,070 rushing yards and 83 total touchdowns.
But the only person with more rushing yards than Peterson's 14,918 since 2000 is Frank Gore. The only person with more rushing touchdowns than Peterson's 120 since 2000 is Tomlinson. Peterson made All-Pro seven times. He led the league in rushing three times. He rushed for the NFL's second-most yards in a season (2,097) in 2012 and still holds the single-game record with 296 yards in 2007.
Peterson has 8,000 more yards from scrimmage than Holmes since 2000.
And oh by the way, Peterson was NFL MVP in 2012.
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Does Priest deserve consideration for inclusion on the All-Quarter Century Team? Absolutely. Should he be ranked No. 1? Um ...
Enjoy the "win," Chiefs fans.
Related: Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes Offers Positive Scouting Report On Josh Simmons
Related: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce 'No. 1 Favorite Movie' Revealed
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
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