As Santonio Holmes watched scores of free agents sign contracts over the last week, he kept wondering the same thing: What about me?
Holmes told Sports Illustrated that he can’t figure out what the issue is. Holmes said he didn’t play up to his own standards after suffering a foot injury with the Jets in 2012, but he said other than that issue he’s always been healthy, and still is.
“It baffles me a little, to know that I’m not a part of any organization,” Holmes said. “It’s a gift and a curse at the same time. I say that because the gift of playing — an opportunity to be a figure in the National Football League, I enjoy. And the curse of having one injury in my entire career, people are now looking at me as if Santonio Holmes is not the guy anymore.”
Holmes said he’s working out and in good shape, and at age 31 he thinks he has plenty of good football left in him.
Still, there are questions: Holmes was widely viewed as a problem in the locker room during his time with the Jets, and he didn’t contribute much last year during a brief tenure with the Bears. There’s also the fact that Holmes has a history of legal issues, including a domestic violence arrest in 2006. That’s not going to make teams eager to sign him.
So while Holmes may be baffled that he can’t get a job, for the rest of us, it’s not all that surprising. Holmes may have run out of chances in the NFL.