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WR Santonio Holmes (Super Bowl XLIII MVP)

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Steelers' Holmes shines under NFL spotlight
Saturday, September 12, 2009
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Titans in the second quarter Thursday at Heinz Field.

View all related imagesA Michael Vick No. 7 Philadelphia Eagles jersey did what the Tennessee Titans' defense couldn't do Thursday night.

It covered Santonio Holmes.

We can spend the weekend debating the merits of Holmes' postgame attire and his showy public support of the NFL's most notorious dog-killing felon, but this point is inarguable: The Steelers' young wide receiver has turned into a star.

Seriously, Vick might want to be trendy and start wearing Holmes' No. 10 jersey.

"Santonio is a different player," teammate Hines Ward said this week. "The light has come on for him."

Certainly, the bright lights are shining on Holmes these days. I'm talking about the brightest lights that the NFL has to offer.

They zeroed in on Holmes in Super Bowl XLIII in February when he made a spectacular catch for the winning touchdown in a 27-23 victory against the Arizona Cardinals. That 6-yard reception with 35 seconds to go, along with his eight other catches for 125 yards that night, earned him membership in one of the most exclusive clubs in sports -- the Super Bowl MVP club. He became just the 38th member.

"I don't think there's any question that game made him a better, more confident player," Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians said.
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Read more: Steelers' Holmes shines under NFL spotlight

Published: September 12, 2009
Holmes picks up right where he left off
BY JIM WEXELL
For The Tribune-Democrat

PITTSBURGH ? Last week, a few days before the opener, offensive coordinator Bruce Arians publicly pondered San*tonio Holmes?s sore back and wondered whether it would lead to ?a slow September? for last year?s Super Bowl MVP.

Holmes laughed late Thursday night after the Steelers had beaten the Tennessee Titans, 13-10. He knew that missing a couple of preseason games wouldn?t slow down the momentum his career had picked up last postseason.

?Preseason is for the birds,? Holmes said. ?I honestly thought to myself I was ready to play ball. I was here an hour and a half earlier than normal, got ready, got my body right, and I was ready to go.?

And he picked up right where he left off. Exactly.

In the opener against the Titans, Holmes caught nine passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.

In the Super Bowl against the Cardinals, Holmes caught nine passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.

Exactly.

?Really?? asked a wide-eyed Holmes. ?Wow. That?s sweet.?

Yes, it was another MVP performance. Holmes led a wild passing game that counted two 100-yard receivers, eight catches from the tight end, a big catch by a rookie that set up the winning score, and of course a quarterback who ? ho hum ? recorded the 18th come-from-behind (fourth quarter or overtime) victory of his still young career.

But the Steelers only scored one touchdown. It came from Holmes.

?It was a beautifully designed play,? Holmes said of his 34-yard catch between two Tennessee safeties late in the first half. ?I had a smile on my face when the ball was let out of his hand because I saw how wide open I was. I was excited to get behind those guys.

?I put a good move on them, pumped them, got them going to the outside, and when I saw (Chris Hope) jump the (Hines Ward) in route, I knew I was going over the top of those guys.?
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The Tribune Democrat, Johnstown, PA - Holmes picks up right where he left off
 
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Holmes wears cast
Tomlin did not mention Santonio Holmes among the injured at his news conference, but the NFL's second-leading receiver was spotted wearing some kind of small cast on his left wrist at the Steelers' headquarters yesterday.

It might be merely something to keep the wrist stabilized for a few days, but it is notable. Monday, Holmes wore a big wrap on the wrist that looked as though he were icing it.

Holmes acknowledged Sunday that he injured his left wrist while bracing himself when he hit the ground against the Chicago Bears. He and Steve Smith are tied for second in the NFL with 214 yards receiving behind leader Dallas Clark's 222 for Indianapolis.

Holmes dropped three passes Sunday in the rain in Chicago, one in the end zone in the fourth quarter.
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Read more: On the Steelers: Tomlin likes Patriots' offense
 
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Holmes not impressed by Chargers CBs
By Kevin Acee
September 30, 2009

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and his Super Bowl MVP receiver, Santonio Holmes, contrasting opinions on Chargers cornerbacks Quentin Jammer and Antonio Cromartie today.

"That corner tandem of Jammer and Cromartie is spectacular," Tomlin said. "They play on the line of scrimmage a bunch, and we have to be ready for a battle from our wide receivers' standpoint."

Holmes, on the other hand, was matter-of-fact in his assessment. "Honestly, two normal corners," Holmes said flatly. "At one point, they were doing what they were supposed to do -- intercept balls and keep opponents from catching the ball."

Holmes said he views all corners that way. "They've got to see me on the field Sunday, too," he said
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"Holmes not impressed by Chargers CBs" by Chargers Blog
 
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Harris: Give Holmes benefit of the doubt
Buzz up!By John Harris, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 15, 2009

Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes was MVP of Super Bowl XLIII with nine catches for 131 yards and the game-winning touchdown. He duplicated those numbers with nine catches for 131 yards and a 34-yard score in the 2009 opener against Tennessee.

What have you done lately, Santonio?

In the second game of the season, Holmes injured his left wrist and dropped three passes ? including a potential touchdown in the fourth quarter of a loss to Chicago.

He had another drop the following week in a loss to Cincinnati, along with being blamed for running the wrong route on Ben Roethlisberger's pick-six interception against the Bengals.

Coach Mike Tomlin defended Holmes at his weekly news conference following the Cincinnati game when asked if his receiver was having trouble focusing. In response, Tomlin talked up Holmes' prowess as a run blocker.

Focus?

How focused was Holmes when he made catches all over the field against Tennessee before injuring his wrist a week later?

"I don't think I have any lack of focus ? never did," Holmes said Wednesday.

A sore wrist isn't a receiver's best friend.

Holmes takes offense to the inference about his lack of focus, but he accepts full responsibility for his drops.

"That had an impact on me dropping those balls in Chicago," Holmes said about the wrist injury. "But, after that, no. I can't make any excuses. I play wide receiver. I'm supposed to catch the ball."
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Harris: Give Holmes benefit of the doubt - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
 
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Passing fancy

Santonio Holmes, who played at Ohio State, always has had big games against the Browns, even though he never watched their games or rooted for them in college.

In six career games against Cleveland, Holmes has 23 catches for 392 yards and two touchdowns.

The Browns have allowed 15 passes of 20 yards or longer this season, in part because they like to use their cornerbacks, Eric Wright and Brandon McDonald, in press coverage to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage.

"That's been their tendencies," Holmes said. "That's what they live and die by, and that's what they going to run with."
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Read more: Steelers Notebook: Smith's absence hurts run defense
 
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Steelers WR Holmes on his way to 1,000
Buzz up!By Scott Brown, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, October 20, 2009

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Santonio Holmes
Getty Images

Santonio Holmes is well on his way to accomplishing something that has eluded the Steelers' wide receiver going back to high school: having a 1,000-yard receiving season. The MVP of Super Bowl MVP has 438 yards on 28 catches. If he maintains the pace he has set through the Steelers' six games, Holmes will finish with 1,168 receiving yards.

"I'm not even focusing on that right now. I've got one touchdown," Holmes said. "I want to score touchdowns as opposed to getting 1,000 yards."

Holmes' only touchdown came in the Steelers' 13-10 win against the Titans in their season opener
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Steelers WR Holmes on his way to 1,000 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
 
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On the Steelers: Holmes' sickle cell not affected in Denver
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Matt Freed/Post-GazetteSteelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes's sickle-cell trait will not be an issue in Denver's altitude.

Like Ryan Clark, Santonio Holmes, too, has the sickle-cell trait, which he only discovered this year. Unlike Clark, Holmes played in Denver two years ago without any adverse health problems other than one visiting players experienced for decades in Mile High Stadium.

"I just had a lot of trouble breathing when I was up there last time," Holmes said yesterday. "I was in there before the game, I went out and I was trying to catch my breath and I couldn't do it, so I stayed in [the locker room] a little bit longer [before] coming out on the field."

Holmes started that game and caught six passes for 54 yards and one touchdown in the Steelers' 31-28 loss in that Oct. 21, 2007, game.

"Every time I was taking a break out of the game, I had an oxygen mask, an inhaler right by my side," Holmes said. "It was real tough for me to breathe."

Holmes said he had no other symptoms during or after the game. Clark, of course, did; he became almost deathly ill, eventually had his spleen and gall bladder removed during surgery, lost 30 pounds and did not play again that season. It was blamed on a reaction in his blood to the sickle cell.

Unlike Clark, Holmes said there is no dilemma about whether he will play Monday night in Denver.

"Nah, it hadn't affected me the last time we played there so I don't think it will this time," Holmes said.

He said he has not talked to a doctor about it, never even thought twice about it.

"My focus is getting back ready throughout the week of football," Holmes said. "I have an oxygen chamber at home, a hyperbaric chamber at home, so I'll definitely, probably spend the rest of this week sleeping in it to get a feel for how it will be."
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Read more: On the Steelers: Holmes' sickle cell not affected in Denver

Ward & Holmes: Rare air
By: Mike Bires
Beaver County Times
Tuesday November 3, 2009

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Times photo by LUCY SCHALY
Steelers beat the Vikings Sunday-Santonio Holmes gets touchtown, but it is called back on a penalty.

PITTSBURGH — For as long as he’s been with the Steelers, Santonio Holmes has been soaking in whatever advice Hines Ward gives him — even when it comes to sleeping in a strange contraption.

Ward, the Steelers’ all-time leading receiver, is an advocate of hyperbaric therapy. That’s why he owns and regularly uses a hyperbaric chamber.

“I call it my fountain of youth,” said Ward, a 33-year-old veteran who’s in his 12th pro season.

Holmes is only 25, but he, too, owns a portable chamber.

“It’s the same exact one Hines has,” Holmes said.
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http://www.timesonline.com/sports/s...24/2009/november/03/ward-holmes-rare-air.html
 
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Months After Super Bowl Catch, Santonio Holmes Still Asks 'Why?'
Pittsburgh Steelers Receiver Went From Drug Corner To Super Bowl MVP
November 10, 2009

PITTSBURGH -- Santonio Holmes' last-minute touchdown catch in Super Bowl XLIII sealed the deal for the Pittsburgh Steelers and brought home the franchise's sixth championship -- but it almost didn't happen.

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NFL
Santonio Holmes sits behind the end zone, cradling the ball in his hands, after catching the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII.


"I can relive that play over and over in the back of my head," Holmes said in a one-on-one interview with WTAE Channel 4 Action Sports anchor John Meyer.

But Holmes wasn't talking about the dramatic catch that put the Steelers up 23-17. He was referring to what happened one play earlier, when a potential touchdown pass from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went through his hands.

"I lost the Super Bowl -- that was the thought going through my head when I sat there, and I bounced back off the ground and I hung my head down, and I was like, 'Man, I just lost the Super Bowl,'" Holmes said.

On the next play, Holmes got a second chance -- and just as he did earlier in his life, he made the most of it.

Holmes was raised in Belle Glade, Fla., a town that had the second-highest crime rate in the country six years ago.

"That's where I grew up. That's where I was raised up from a year old until I was about 8 years old," Holmes said.
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Months After Super Bowl Catch, Santonio Holmes Still Asks 'Why?' - Sports News Story - WTAE Pittsburgh
 
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Santonio Holmes has come a long way from 'Muck City'
Sunday, November 15, 2009
By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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Andrew Rush/Post-Gazette
Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes knows his history: "Muck City," the nickname for Belle Glade, Fla., where he grew up, is tattooed on his hands.

BELLE GLADE, Fla. -- The worn-out sign welcoming motorists to one of America's poorest of cities boasts about its richest of grounds: Her soil is her future. Next door squats the Pioneer Growers Co-Op and the Glades Correctional Institution. Across State Road 80 is the crop-duster airport, the Glades Work Camp prison and the tallest structure for miles, one of the three mills remaining from the seven amid Big Sugar's high times.

The Steelers' Santonio Holmes sprang from this muck. He grew up in the projects of this town. He grew up on what is considered not only the wrong side of Palm Beach County but the wrong side of the Cross State Highway, directly across from his old high school. The place carries a different designation: Belle Glade Camp, where 2000 U.S. Census figures show 700 of the 1,100 residents live below the poverty line, a median family income of $17,000 yearly. He grew up in a single-parent household, surrounded on three sides by cane fields and deep in the legendary muck, the dark, enriched soil that produces one-quarter of America's sugar, rice, corn, cabbage and a crop of 30 NFL players.

He once wrote "muck city" across his face, on eye-black patches. Then, in a 2007 celebration of cousin Fred Taylor's inaugural Pro Bowl, a South Beach tattoo artist indelibly inked it above Mr. Holmes' knuckles: Muck on the right, City on the left. He knows his roots like the back of the hands that he'll see every time he stretches to catch a pass today at Heinz Field in the Steelers' AFC North collision with leader Cincinnati.

"I always refer back to everything I did as a kid, growing up, where I came from ---- Belle Glade. I even have it tattooed on my hands, Muck City," he said earlier this week, showing his Super Bowl XLIII MVP hands. "So definitely I'm always reminded of where I came from, where I grew up, just how rough it was. It's right there, visible to me, every day."
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Read more: Santonio Holmes has come a long way from 'Muck City'
 
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