Education
He attended Wilson High School where he was a wishbone quarterback.
He attended Wilson High School where he was a wishbone quarterback.
He also lettered in baseball, track (long jump) and tennis. Because of grades he enrolled at North Greenville Junior College where he was the starting quarterback. After 2 years, he transferred to Carson-Newman College where he was converted to cornerback.
Dallas Cowboys
Holmes was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round (58th overall) of the 1992 NFL draft.
As a rookie he was used mostly as a special teams player, finishing second on the team with 15 tackles and also registering a fumble recovery in Super Bowl XXVII. On August 14, 1993, during the first pre-season game, he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and was lost for the season. In 1995, he started 6 games at cornerback in place of an injured Kevin Smith, while free agent Deion Sanders reached a contract agreement with the Dallas Cowboys.
That same year in November, the NFL suspended him for four games for violating the league"s substance-abuse policy. A week later, the suspension was increased to one year.
While suspended, he incurred in a fifth violation of the NFL"s substance abuse policy and was suspended for 4 additional games.
On February 10, 1996, he was released from the team Miami Dolphins
Holmes signed with the Miami Dolphins on February 26, 1997, reuniting him with former Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson. Looking to play for the first time since November 1995, he failed another drug test that resulted in a 4-game suspension and his eventual release on October 13, 1997.
Topeka Knights
In 1999, he played for the Topeka Knights of the Indoor Football League.
Kansas Koyotes
In 2003 he signed with the Kansas Koyotes of the American Professional Football League, where he played for two seasons. Holmes filed suit against the NFL for involuntarily enrolling him in a drug treatment program, after he tested positive for marijuana, but his claim was dismissed.
His post-football life became a turbulent mix of personal problems and financial difficulties.
He won 3 Super Bowl rings with the Cowboys in 1992, 1993 and 1995. As a senior in 1991, he became one of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics top football players, receiving the South Atlantic Conference"s Defensive Player of the Year award, Little All-American honors and also played in the Blue–Gray Football Classic.
