Holmes Retires

Four-time Pro Bowl tailback Priest Holmes, who returned to the field with the Kansas City Chiefs last month following nearly two years of inactivity, has decided to leave the game, and announced his retirement at a Wednesday afternoon news conference. "I have truly been blessed with the opportunity to play in the National Football League," he said. "I will be forever grateful to the Hunt family and the Chiefs organization for the opportunity to come to Kansas City, where the community embraced me from Day 1." Holmes, 34, spent the past few days counseling with family members and friends, and speaking with medical experts about a re-occurrence of the neck problems that sidelined him for two years, two sources close to him told ESPN.com on Tuesday night. The decision to retire came after Holmes suffered three hits in last Sunday's game at Indianapolis that left him with some tingling in his extremities. Chiefs team president Carl Peterson told Holmes to go home Tuesday and to take the night to sleep on his decision, ESPN.com's John Clayton reported. According to a source, it wasn't that Holmes re-injured his neck as much as he experienced a recurrence of the symptoms that led to his 18-month layoff.

Source: ESPN