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PITHOLMES50

Earl Holmes

Retired

Detroit Lions · MLB

Earl Holmes recorded 140 indexed regular-season NFL appearances across 10 rostered seasons with Detroit Lions, CLV, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets.

▶Best highlights

4.6

tackles/gm

4

playoff games

10

indexed seasons

140

career games

Five defining games

Start here

A provisional five-game introduction to Earl Holmes's most significant indexed performances.

Wild Card
2002
CLEVELANDBROWNS
PITTSBURGHSTEELERS
JAN 5, 2003

Cleveland Browns vs Pittsburgh Steelers

Wild Card · Jan 5, 2003

1 tackles · 0 sacks · 0 INT

Divisional Round
2001
BALTIMORERAVENS
PITTSBURGHSTEELERS
JAN 20, 2002

Baltimore Ravens vs Pittsburgh Steelers

Divisional Round · Jan 20, 2002

3 tackles · 0 sacks · 0 INT

Conference Championship
1997
DENVERBRONCOS
PITTSBURGHSTEELERS
JAN 11, 1998

Denver Broncos vs Pittsburgh Steelers

Conference Championship · Jan 11, 1998

0 tackles · 0 sacks · 0 INT

Divisional Round
1997
NEW ENGLANDPATRIOTS
PITTSBURGHSTEELERS
JAN 3, 1998

New England Patriots vs Pittsburgh Steelers

Divisional Round · Jan 3, 1998

0 tackles · 0 sacks · 0 INT

Regular Season
2003
DETROITLIONS
DENVERBRONCOS
SEP 28, 2003

Detroit Lions vs Denver Broncos

Regular Season · Sep 28, 2003

6 tackles · 1 sacks · 0 INT

Single-game peaks

Career highs

Position-relevant single-game records from Earl Holmes's indexed NFL box scores.

Career high: 15 total tackles

Regular Season
2004
DETROITLIONS
DALLASCOWBOYS
OCT 31, 2004

Detroit Lions vs Dallas Cowboys

Regular Season · Oct 31, 2004

15 tackles · 0 sacks · 0 INT

Career high: 1 sack

Regular Season
2003
ST. LOUISRAMS
DETROITLIONS
DEC 28, 2003

St. Louis Rams vs Detroit Lions

Regular Season · Dec 28, 2003

5 tackles · 1 sacks · 0 INT

Career high: 3 tackles for loss

Regular Season
2001
BALTIMORERAVENS
PITTSBURGHSTEELERS
NOV 4, 2001

Baltimore Ravens vs Pittsburgh Steelers

Regular Season · Nov 4, 2001

8 tackles · 0 sacks · 0 INT

Career high: 1 quarterback hit

Regular Season
2001
DETROITLIONS
PITTSBURGHSTEELERS
DEC 23, 2001

Detroit Lions vs Pittsburgh Steelers

Regular Season · Dec 23, 2001

4 tackles · 1 sacks · 0 INT

Career high: 1 forced fumble

Regular Season
2005
CAROLINAPANTHERS
DETROITLIONS
OCT 16, 2005

Carolina Panthers vs Detroit Lions

Regular Season · Oct 16, 2005

4 tackles · 0 sacks · 0 INT

Career chapters

Franchise eras

Follow the team eras that shaped Earl Holmes's career, in chronological order.

Earliest → latest

Franchise era

1981–1996

01
NYJHOLMES—Earl Holmes
NYJGASTINEAU99Mark Gastineau
NYJKLECKO—Joe Klecko

Pass rush returns the Jets to January

New York Jets · The Sack Exchange and more near misses

The Sack Exchange led consecutive playoff teams, and the 1986 club began 10–1 before injuries and an overtime loss ended its run.

Read the era story →

Franchise era

1992–2006

02
PITHOLMES—Earl Holmes
PITBETTIS36Jerome Bettis
PITWARD86Hines Ward

Blitzburgh reaches two Super Bowls

Pittsburgh Steelers · The Cowher teams

Bill Cowher restored annual contention, and a second-year Ben Roethlisberger helped Bettis finish his career with the Super Bowl XL championship.

Read the era story →

Franchise era

1992–2002

03
CINHOLMES—Earl Holmes
CINDILLON28Corey Dillon
CINPICKENS81Carl Pickens

Instability overwhelms individual talent

Cincinnati Bengals · The lost decade

Cincinnati went fourteen seasons without a winning record even as Dillon and a handful of draft successes supplied isolated excellence.

Read the era story →

Franchise era

1997–2006

04
NYJHOLMES—Earl Holmes
NYJMARTIN28Curtis Martin
NYJTESTAVERDE16Vinny Testaverde

From one win to the AFC title game

New York Jets · Parcells changes the standard

Parcells rebuilt the franchise immediately, Martin became its model of consistency and Pennington later delivered another division title.

Read the era story →

Franchise era

1999–2017

05
CLEHOLMES—Earl Holmes
CLETHOMAS73Joe Thomas
CLECRIBBS16Josh Cribbs

An expansion-style rebirth becomes a long rebuild

Cleveland Browns · The Browns return

The restored franchise returned in 1999 but cycled through leadership and quarterbacks, with Thomas providing Hall of Fame stability amid the turnover.

Read the era story →

Franchise era

1999–2008

06
DETHOLMES—Earl Holmes
DETHANSON4Jason Hanson
DETWILLIAMS11Roy Williams

A painful rebuild reaches rock bottom

Detroit Lions · From Barry's exit to 0–16

Sanders retired abruptly and years of poor roster construction culminated in the league's first 0–16 season.

Read the era story →

Career accomplishments

10 NFL seasons140 career games425 career solo tackles12 career sacksDrafted by: PITDraft pick: 126Jersey: 504 playoff appearancesFirst appearance: Sep 8, 1996Most recent: Dec 11, 2005

Official awards via ESPN · Pro Bowl and All-Pro counts via NFLverse with selection years cross-checked against Wikipedia · league leads verified from indexed regular-season stats

Team history