Earl Holmes

Earl Holmes

Date of birth:	April 28, 1973 (1973-04-28)
Place of birth:	Tallahassee, Florida
Career information
Position(s):	Linebacker
College:	Florida A&M
NFL Draft:	1996 / Round: 4 / Pick 126
Organizations
As player:
1996-2001 2002 2003-2005	Pittsburgh Steelers Cleveland Browns Detroit Lions
Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Earl Holmes (born April 28, 1973) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 4th round of the 1996 NFL Draft 126th overall out of Florida A&M University. While attending Florida A&M, Holmes became a member of the Alpha Xi chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in the spring of 1994. Holmes was inducted into the FAMU Hall of Fame in July 2005 to join the likes of Alonzo S. "Jake" Gaither and FAMU'S "Famed Final Four of 1952."

In his NFL career, Holmes has played for the Steelers, Cleveland Browns, and Detroit Lions. Holmes, listed at 6'2' 242 lbs, garnered a reputation as a solid run stopping Middle Linebacker. He played his first 6 seasons in Pittsburgh where he totaled 547 tackles (392 solo), 9.5 sacks, a healthy 56 tackles for loss, 3 forced fumbles, 4 fumbles recovered, 21 pass deflections, and 1 interception for 36 yards in 81 games. In 2002 Holmes signed a free agent deal with the Cleveland Browns. He had one of his best seasons of his career by totaling 128 tackles(96 solo), 8.5 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and 5 pass deflections in leading the Browns to a playoff berth. Holmes finished his career with three solid seasons for the Detroit Lions.

In his 10 year career he totaled 958 tackles (685 solos), 11.5 sacks, 89 tackles for loss, 6 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries, 29 pass deflections, and 1 interception for 36 yards in 140 games.