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Okay, a bit disingenuous with the thread title above - perhaps. But isn't there be a good possibility that this is what the headline would be for all to see, in today's media climate if the situation happened post all the Patriots-gates?
In memory of Ernie Holmes, who would have turned 76 today
Born July 11, 1948 in Jamestown, Texas
Died January 17, 2008 at the age of 59 in Beaumont, Texas
Patriot DT, 1978; uniform #63
Signed as a free agent on November 30, 1978
Ernie Holmes played for Pittsburgh for six seasons, starting 58 games for the Steelers from 1972-1977. He was a crucial part of the famed Steel Curtain defense, where he earned a pair of Super Bowl rings. Due to weight issues Holmes was traded to Tampa Bay for a 10th and 11th round draft pick early in the '78 offseason, but was cut at the end of the Bucs training camp. The fearsome (and unstable) Holmes played in the final three games of the 1978 season with the Patriots (plus the Chuck Fairbanks farewell postseason loss to Houston), finishing his NFL career in that New Years Eve loss in Foxboro.
March 16, 1973:
January 18, 2008:
January 18, 2008:
January 17, 2008:
January 18, 2008:
January 20, 2008:
Ernie Holmes once told a reporter from Time magazine that he was attracted to the violence of football and that he didn't "mind knocking somebody out."
QB Dan Pastorini described Holmes as the defender that he feared the most.
Today in Patriots History
Helicopter-Shooting Steel Curtain DT
Helicopter-Shooting Steel Curtain DT
In memory of Ernie Holmes, who would have turned 76 today
Born July 11, 1948 in Jamestown, Texas
Died January 17, 2008 at the age of 59 in Beaumont, Texas
Patriot DT, 1978; uniform #63
Signed as a free agent on November 30, 1978
Ernie Holmes played for Pittsburgh for six seasons, starting 58 games for the Steelers from 1972-1977. He was a crucial part of the famed Steel Curtain defense, where he earned a pair of Super Bowl rings. Due to weight issues Holmes was traded to Tampa Bay for a 10th and 11th round draft pick early in the '78 offseason, but was cut at the end of the Bucs training camp. The fearsome (and unstable) Holmes played in the final three games of the 1978 season with the Patriots (plus the Chuck Fairbanks farewell postseason loss to Houston), finishing his NFL career in that New Years Eve loss in Foxboro.
March 16, 1973:
Steelers' Tackle, Holmes, Arrested in Ohio Manhunt (Published 1973)
Pittsburgh Steelers football player E Holmes is arrested by Ohio State Police for allegedly shooting at trucks on hwy
www.nytimes.com
Sheriff's deputies and the Ohio State Patrol arrested a man whom they identified as the Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive tackle, Ernest Holmes, after a manhunt today in which a helicopter pilot was shot and wounded.
The hunt was for a gunman who had been reported firing at trucks on nearby highways.
January 18, 2008:
Texas crash kills ex-Steeler Ernie Holmes - UPI.com
Former defensive tackle Ernie Holmes, who played for two Pittsburgh Super Bowl winners, was killed in car crash near Lumberton, Texas, authorities said Friday.
www.upi.com
Former defensive tackle Ernie Holmes, who played for two Pittsburgh Super Bowl winners, was killed in car crash near Lumberton, Texas, authorities said Friday.
Holmes, an ordained minister, was traveling alone on Highway 69 when his SUV crashed and rolled Thursday night, KFDM-TV in Beaumont reported.
Holmes, nicknamed "Fats," a two-time NFL all-pro player, lived at Weirgate in Newton County, Texas, the report said.
The big lineman played for the Steelers from 1972 to 1977 and for a season with the New England Patriots in 1978. He was on Super Bowl-winning teams in 1975 and 1976.
Holmes was on a Steelers' defensive line that included Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood and Dwight White.
"Oh, Ernie was definitely an enforcer," Greene told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
January 18, 2008:
Dr. Z: Steelers' Holmes was as misunderstood as he was underappreciated
Once I saw Ernie Holmes pick up a sportswriter by the shirt and hold him, with one hand, against the wall while he lectured the poor guy on the finer points of
www.si.com
Once I saw Ernie Holmes pick up a sportswriter by the shirt and hold him, with one hand, against the wall while he lectured the poor guy on the finer points of covering the Steelers. There were people who were scared to death of him, others who didn't want to have anything to do with him, still others who liked him as you would a big, galloping Great Dane puppy.
The world discovered that the 6-foot-3, 280-pound Holmes, who one can safely say was the most feared member of the Steel Curtain defense of the 1970s, was a bit unbalanced when he made headlines by firing his pistol at trucks on the highway. Traffic made him nervous, he explained later. Besides, he said he was careful not to aim at people, just vehicles. When a police helicopter arrived on the scene, he turned his fire skyward.
Woody Widenhofer, who coached the linebackers, said there were days when Ernie was just as good as Joe Greene. Noll scoffed at the idea that Holmes never earned any kind of All-Pro recognition.
"You want to know how good he was, how tough?" Noll said. "Take a look at the way the guy who had to play against him looks, coming off the field after the game -- if he was able to finish it."
I remember Picture Day before the '76 Super Bowl. Ernie grabbed me and said he wanted to explain what the game meant to him. I took six pages of notes in my 5 x 8 spiral. I didn't understand any of them. I am looking at them right now, and I still don't know what they mean.
"You think I don't care, it's like two iguanas climbing up a tree, which one gets higher, they want to piss on you, I'm not going to let them ..." and on and on, for six pages.
January 17, 2008:
Column: Holmes was finally getting life in order
It was with immense sadness Friday that the Pittsburgh Steelers learned that Ernie Holmes was dead at age 59. Sadness not only because a former Super Bowl hero had lost his life, but also because …
www.timesonline.com
“It was nothing short of a miracle,” Hall of Fame cornerback Mel Blount said of the turnaround the often-troubled Holmes made before dying Thursday night when he rolled his SUV in southeast Texas.
“I’m so happy that at some point in his life, he got his life together.”
Thirty-two years ago, when Time magazine featured the Steelers’ famous front four on its cover, Holmes admitted that “I don’t know what my life is except there is something pounding in the back of my head.”
He’s the guy who was so distraught over the break up of his marriage in 1973 that he started firing a pistol at trucks on a highway in eastern Ohio and then at a police helicopter that was chasing him.
At that point in his career, the Steelers could have easily severed ties with Holmes, one of the team’s two eighth-round picks in the 1971 NFL Draft. Instead, the Rooney family and coach Chuck Noll stood by Holmes. They served as character witnesses on Holmes’ behalf and managed to get him off without having to do any jail time.
He was an admitted alcoholic who also battled substance abuse. Four years ago when he returned for the Mel Blount Youth Home Celebrity Roast, he weighed close to 400 pounds and walked with a cane.
But two years ago, Holmes did reunite with Greene, Greenwood and White to film a “Chunky” soup commercial. All things considered, he looked great.
January 18, 2008:
Ernie Holmes, member of 'Steel Curtain,' dies at 59
Ernie Holmes, a two-time Super Bowl winner and an anchor of Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" defense, has died in a car crash. He was 59.
www.espn.com
After football, Holmes had minor acting roles. He appeared in an episode of the 1980s TV show "The A-Team" and dabbled in professional wrestling.
Eventually, though, he settled down on a ranch near tiny Wiergate, a town of 461 close to the Louisiana border. He was an ordained minister, had his own church and told the Steelers he was a more "spiritual being."
The Steelers took note of the difference in Holmes at reunions and autograph shows. Former linebacker Andy Russell said Holmes had taken "meaningful steps in improving his life" and seemed to be a "much more thoughtful kind of person."
To motivate his teammates, Holmes purposefully strayed into the Raiders' warmups to tell star lineman Gene Upshaw before the January 1976 AFC Championship Game what the Steelers would do to him and Oakland. The Steelers went on to win 24-13. But at a team Christmas party, Holmes surprised everyone by dressing up like Santa Claus and handing out toys.
"I don't recall anybody telling him to do that," Greene said. "That was Ernie."
January 20, 2008:
Ernie Holmes, 59, N.F.L. Lineman, Is Dead (Published 2008)
Ernie Holmes won two Super Bowls as an anchor of Pittsburgh’s famed Steel Curtain defense in the 1970s.
www.nytimes.com
He was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car, and was pronounced dead at the scene, the department said.
Ernie Holmes (1948-2008) - Find a Grave Memorial
Professional Football Player. Born in Jamestown, Texas, he played at the defensive tackle position for seven seasons (1972 to 1978) in the National Football League, with the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots. He was a member of two Super Bowl championship teams (1975 and 1976...
www.findagrave.com
Ernie Holmes once told a reporter from Time magazine that he was attracted to the violence of football and that he didn't "mind knocking somebody out."
QB Dan Pastorini described Holmes as the defender that he feared the most.
