Soul wideout Brent Holmes an enduring competitor

By ED BARKOWITZ
Philadelphia Daily News
barkowe@phillynews.com

BRENT HOLMES remembers hitting a three-pointer and then scurrying back on defense after a teammate made a steal and converted a layup. He does not remember the vicious elbow that nearly killed him a few seconds later.

In an instant, Holmes went from high school star athlete to national curiosity.

"It was," his father said, "kind of a nightmare to see that happen."

Holmes, a wide receiver for the Soul, was a three-sport senior star in 1999 for East Central High in San Antonio. On Jan. 15 of that year, during a basketball game against South San Antonio High, Tony Limon hit Holmes with an elbow to the face without warning. The frightening incident was so vicious it resulted in a 5-year prison term for the attacker. Dwayne Holmes, Brent's father, said he immediately thought of Kermit Washington's infamous sucker punch that almost killed Rudy Tomjanovich in a 1977 NBA game.

Go to the Philadelphia Daily News for the rest of the story.