Two Great Backs Could Be Saying Goodbye

The lifespan of an NFL player is about as long as a fruit fly - translation: not very long. The fruit fly lives for about three days tops, pretty much the same as an NFL running back.

All kidding aside, the game chews up and spits out running backs in quick fashion. No other position in the league has such a short duration. The average running back lasts three years. Three years! What kind of a career is that?

It's a special accomplishment to see a running back pass the three-year barrier and have a great career. What a rare occurrence indeed, which is why it's so bittersweet to hear that Marshall Faulk and Priest Holmes might be calling it a day.

Marshall has had both knees scoped in each of the past three seasons and it appears his 12 years of running on the hard turf has done him in. He didn't show up to Rams mini camp this past week because his knees haven't come around.

Holmes has played in only 15 games the past two seasons because of various injuries, but his head and neck injury he received last October may be the one the ends his career. There's talk he'll sit out the 2006 season and try to come back in 2007. Don't look for it though.

Faulk is the greatest all-purpose back to ever play the game. Period, end of discussion. His 12,279 yards rushing are ninth best in NFL history and his 767 receptions are the second most of any running back (Larry Centers leads with 827). And don't forget his 136 career touchdowns. He's the only player to crack 2,000 yards or more from scrimmage for four straight seasons (1998-2001).

In his seven-year tenure with the Rams, Faulk became the face of the St. Louis franchise. Twice winning NFL Offensive Player of the Year, as well as league MVP in 2000. The Rams won their first Super Bowl in franchise history in Faulk's debut year with the club.

Holmes, an undrafted free agent was a backup in Baltimore until the Kansas City Chiefs picked him up in 2001. It was with Dick Vermeil in KC that Holmes shined. In what may be the best four-year span for an NFL back, Holmes rushed for 4,204 yards, caught 225 passes for 2,163 yards and scored a whopping 76 TDs, including a then NFL-record 27 rushing touchdowns in 2003.

Holmes has rushed for 8,305 yards and 86 touchdowns in a nine-year career. You can also tack on an additional 2,945 yards on 334 receptions with eight scores coming through the air. He was a fantasy football owners wet dream. Just as Faulk was, but now it seems that father time has caught up with both.

It's a hard reality being a professional athlete. A normal career out in the world can last for 40 or 50 years if you're lucky and healthy enough. An athlete, particularly a football player, might have 15 years if the cards fall right. In what seems like an instant they can go from adoring crowds cheering them on, the press following their every move, to mowing their yard unnoticed as their career fades into the distant past.

Don't worry though, that won't happen to Marshall Faulk and Priest Holmes. Their place in NFL lore is secure.

Here's hoping that both can come back and play again. They're good for the game and still have the ability to play it at a high level. Either way, Faulk and Holmes have each left their own legacy, an imprint on the NFL, that will last for generations to come.

And they gave the fans memories to last a lifetime.

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