WR Santonio Holmes (Super Bowl XLIII MVP)

[Buckskin86]

Santonio Holmes stays humble as receiver's late-game heroics have carried Jets last three weeks
BY Manish Mehta
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Thursday, November 25th 2010

Santonio Holmes doesn't care to delve too deeply into the fantastic finishes. For all the chatter surrounding his recent late-game heroics, for all the references to "Tone Time," the mercurial wide receiver speaks with a steadiness reserved for players who expect greatness from themselves.

Holmes has made the pivotal catch in the fourth quarter or overtime in three consecutive weeks to help lift the Jets to a trio of heart-palpitating wins. He doesn't know why his first year with his new team has started off like this. Frankly, he doesn't care to analyze it. For weeks, he's repeated the same five words: "Just being a football player."

"Certain players have that mystique," LaDainian Tomlinson said. "They make plays when it's really time to make plays."

Holmes hasn't been swallowed up by all the headlines. When he caught the game-winning 6-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left against the Texans last Sunday, he did little to draw attention to himself.

Holmes, in fact, has punctuated all three of his touchdowns this season with a simple celebration, extending his arms as if in flight. It's a tribute to the "Flight Boys," a nickname that Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery and Holmes came up with. The wide receivers proudly wear specially designed Flight Boys T-shirts with images of planes with Nos. 10, 89 and 17 on the wings. Holmes is Flight No. 561 (the area code of his hometown in Florida), by the way.

Even Mark Sanchez has extended his arms and joined the Flight Boys fraternity after TDs.

"It's great when you get your quarterback involved," Holmes said. "It builds the chemistry among us. He trusts all three of us."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...holiday_to_bring_it_holmes.html#ixzz16IlvbNhz

 

[Buckskin86]

QB Sanchez to WR Holmes, 13-yd, pass, TD - NFL.com

Right at Holmes - NFL.com

 

[Buckskin86]

Sports of The Times
Jets? Holmes Becomes a Game Changer
By WILLIAM C. RHODEN
Published: November 30, 2010

Ben Solomon for The New York Times
Santonio Holmes after catching the winning 6-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left against the Texans on Nov. 21.

The trip seems like a lifetime ago, but Santonio Holmes said that spending a week in Africa last summer gave him a new perspective on opportunities and blessings.

Holmes has emerged as the Jets? big-play wide receiver. In many ways, the trip to Ghana set the tone for a season of explosive performances. It also helped him regain his equilibrium after being jettisoned from Pittsburgh, where he began his career, to New York, where he hopes to salvage it.

?I wanted to experience Africa, I wanted to know what it was like over there,? Holmes said Monday after practice. Holmes made the trip at the invitation of a former teammate, David Clowney, as part of a good-will mission. They visited hospitals, schools and orphanages. They went to impoverished areas where essentials were lacking.

?In some places, the people didn?t have access to clean water to drink and they had to watch what they ate because the food was infested,? Holmes said. ?That?s the way those guys live every day. They have to scratch, claw, fight for a piece of bread to eat to feed the family. It was definitely a culture shock.?

Cont..

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/sports/football/01rhoden.html

 

[lord vegas]

ESPN

Santonio ESPN piece.

 

[BuckTwenty]

Santonio ESPN piece.

Front and center story on their homepage, too.

 

[Cornerback6]

Anyone here think (stats aside for obvious reasons) that Tone is a top 3 WR in the league right now? He doesn't have the booming Calvin Johnson measurables, but you can't get more clutch and statistically, w/a 16 game season, he's right there too.

 

[Buckskin86]

Jets' Holmes saving team, himself
Jets Blog
By BRAD HAMILTON
December 5, 2010

?Tone is atoning.

Troubled-but-electrifying Jets wideout Santonio Holmes is serving penance for his past by performing last-minute miracles on the field, living like a monk in a rented New Jersey apartment and rejecting the perils of big-city nightlife.

And he has found sanctuary in a single-minded pursuit: delivering a Super Bowl to Gang Green.

?I love it here. I wouldn?t want to play for nobody else,? he said of his new team, just seven months after Pittsburgh traded him despite his being the team?s Super Bowl MVP in 2009.

?Everybody is about happiness here and making [stuff] happen. Nobody is uptight. The mentality is about having fun, and we?re not going to let nobody ruin it.?

His game-saving heroics ? including two TDs with less than 30 seconds to play and a 52-yard catch to set up a winning field goal ? are a big reason the Jets share the AFC East lead with the Patriots going into tomorrow night?s showdown in Foxborough, Mass.

But though those critical plays might exhilarate fans, to Holmes, who described himself as a ?businessman,? they?re about as moving as a well-crafted PowerPoint presentation.

?I don?t have any emotions on the field,? he said. ?This is my job. This is my life. I sit on the sidelines after every bad series and I say, ?What can I do better???

The 26-year-old receiver gave The Post a detailed account of each of his four miracle plays, revealing a keen ability to make rapid, minute adjustments while sprinting with the ball and to focus on things like the position of a defensive player?s feet.

When he beat the Browns on Nov. 14 with a 37-yard TD catch with 24 seconds left in overtime, Holmes underwent a mind-vs.-body battle while avoiding a linebacker.

?My instincts told me to go one way but my body was just like, ?Nah, I think we?re going to go the opposite way.?? He then sensed a defensive back converging and deftly bolted to the outside.

And he never had any doubt about a corner route that was called when the Jets needed to score against the Texans with 16 seconds left, despite the play being an utter failure in practice.

?We ran this play four or five times and the [thing] just didn?t work. I dropped it two times. It was out of bounds once. One time I tried to keep my feet in bounds and I stepped out right on the catch.

?But when you?re in the game, you make it work. It?s the only time that matters.?

Cont...

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets...ing_jets_zekYfIjRf033DMSWD1RdqN#ixzz17KuIvxKt

 

[GeorgiaBuck2]

I fell good for Santonio. Being traded for a 5th round pick seems pretty stupid by the Steelers when they give away their only great receiving threat. Add to the fact that they got rid of him for smoking some pot but not giving up Roethlisberger for things much worse.

 

[Tonyank]

HUGE!!!!! Drop in the endzone wide open.

 

[Buckskin86]

Updated: December 16, 2010
Santonio Holmes expects standing O
By Rich Cimini
ESPNNewYork.com

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- New York Jets' Santonio Holmes is planning an eventful homecoming this weekend to Pittsburgh. All he needs is a little daylight to make it happen.

He promised to score on a punt return against his former team, the Steelers.

"Those guys know if they give me an opportunity, trust me, I'm going to take advantage of it," said Holmes, who was traded to the Jets last April. "If they give me a crease, I'm going to take it to the house.

"Is that what you want to hear? Feed that to those guys [in Pittsburgh]. Those guys already know. If they give me an opportunity, they know that's going to happen."

Holmes isn't short on confidence. This is his personal Super Bowl. On Sunday, he gets to face the team that unloaded him for, basically, the price of a Gatorade bucket.

"It's been on my mind for quite some time, and I just never let it play a factor until now," he said. "Now is the time to get a chance to play against these guys. I spent four years there. It's definitely time to show these guys, 'Why let me go?'"

Cont..

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/news/story?id=5927394&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines

 

[Buckskin86]

Being a Father Takes Jets? Holmes Out of His Shell
By GREG BISHOP
Published: December 18, 2010

Al Bello/Getty Images
Santonio Holmes with Santonio III, who has sickle cell anemia, after the 2009 Super Bowl.

FAIRBURN, Ga. ? In the third quarter of Super Bowl XLIII, Santonio Holmes III fell asleep in the stands. He awoke just before his father caught the winning touchdown pass for the Pittsburgh Steelers, sprinted down the stairs and jumped into his arms, creating an instant, indelible image, which remains his father?s favorite.

That game took place less than two years ago, even if it sometimes feels like two lifetimes. That was before Santonio Holmes Jr. fell from favor in Pittsburgh, before the Jets acquired him for a measly fifth-round pick, before sickle cell anemia repeatedly sent Santonio III to the hospital, the most recent trip this month.

As Holmes, 26, and the Jets head to Pittsburgh for a Sunday contest filled with playoff implications, he talks with and thinks often about his firstborn. Santonio III, 8, lives here, outside Atlanta, with his mother and younger brother, Nicori. They toss footballs painted Steelers colors. They play the Steelers on Madden NFL 10. But they, too, understand the conflicting emotions prompted by their father?s return to Pittsburgh.

?Go, Jets,? Nicori, 6, said recently. ?I curse the Steelers!?

The brothers say they want to follow their father into football, although Nicori listed artist among his backup plans. Both aim to attend Ohio State and play receiver, and whenever their father visits, they enlist him in all their favorite activities: video games, football, basketball and back flips on the trampoline out back.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/sports/football/19holmes.html

 

[GeorgiaBuck2]

Wish you all the best Santonio. Keep doing your thang.

 

[Buckskin86]

Santonio Holmes returns to Heinz Field to face former Steelers team for first time as a visiting Jet
BY Kevin Armstrong
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Sunday, December 19th 2010

PITTSBURGH - When Jets receiver Santonio Holmes was with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Randy Fichtner, his position coach, would leave the unit's second-floor meeting room to photocopy diagrams for his players. Then, Holmes or wideout Nate Washington would pick up Fichtner's cell phone and send the coach's wife, Jennifer, a text message asking her to call back in five minutes when the coach would return in front of his players. She'd call and inquire what her husband needed. Fichtner, recognizing the mischief, looked up.

"He'd be like, 'Goddamn it,'" Holmes says of Fichtner. "'That's Nate and 'Tone.'"

Holmes smiles.

"I was like, 'Dude, loosen the f--- up, we're in the NFL. We've worked too damn hard to get to this level and still be treated like kids,'" Holmes says.

He pauses.

"I hate that we all split up," Holmes says of the unit. "We had fun times."

Cont...

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...steelers_team_for_first_ti.html#ixzz18Z4BSGmq

Holmes puts Pittsburgh past behind him
By John Harris
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, December 19, 2010

Soon after signing with the Jets, Santonio Holmes changed the ring tone on his cell phone to "Empire State of Mind'' featuring superstar performers Alicia Keys and Jay-Z. The tribute to New York City was Holmes' swan song to four bittersweet seasons with the Steelers.

"I've put all that stuff in the past back in April when it happened,'' said Holmes, a Super Bowl MVP who was traded to the Jets for a fifth-round draft pick that the Steelers used to acquire cornerback Bryant McFadden. "I play for the New York Jets now. I don't care about anything that's going on in Pittsburgh.''

Holmes returns to Heinz Field to face his former team at 4:15 p.m. today. It's an opportunity to heal old wounds and create new memories.

Holmes maintains he doesn't know why he was traded a year after catching the winning touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to defeat Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII. Truth is, Holmes was traded because Steelers management tired of his off-field troubles that included a four-game suspension at the start of this season for failing the NFL's substance-abuse policy.

"If I had the answers, I'd give (them) to you,'' Holmes said.

Cont...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_714438.html

 

[Buckskin86]

Holmes' homecoming a success
December, 20, 2010
By Jane McManus

PITTSBURGH -- Santonio Holmes met Jets owner Woody Johnson in the tunnel at Heinz Field after an exhilarating win over Pittsburgh that went down to the wire. Flush with victory, Johnson looked at his wide receiver -- the former Steeler -- and put it succinctly.

"They made a big mistake getting rid of you," Johnson said.

Holmes heard plenty of boos from the fans, and said he was called every name under the sun, but his homecoming was better than he might have reasonably expected. The 22-17 win bolsters the Jets' playoff position after two straight losses to the Patriots and Dolphins.

"We can't try to turn it on the first week of the playoffs, we had to start it off today," Holmes said.

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
Were the Steelers wrong not to hold on to Santonio Holmes? Woody Johnson thinks so.


The Jets' receivers were back on track with quarterback Mark Sanchez. Holmes caught six of nine balls thrown his way and gained 40 yards. He, Dustin Keller and Braylon Edwards all came up big, and Edwards led all three with eight catches for an even 100 yards.

Before the game, coach Rex Ryan chose to send Holmes out alone as the team captain, although several other Jets technically shared the honor with him. He was the lone representative for the Jets, and he feels fully a part of this team now.

So much so that he was looking to give the Jets every advantage he could, like looking at the signs the Steelers used.

"I couldn't pinpoint very many things that they were doing on the field everything was looking so different," Holmes said. "They had different calls, they had different signals. I was trying to steal some of the signals that Ben was giving to the guys. It wasn't working because everything had changed up.?

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/jets/post/_/id/3594/holmes-homecoming-a-success

 

[Buckskin86]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yabwb-iy7fU"]YouTube - Santonio Holmes - aka Santa-onio Ho-Ho-Holmes - at Modell's Giving Out His Reebok Jersey[/ame]