Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes paid his dues on his way up the NFL front office ladder. The Tampa native graduated from Chamberlain High School in 1997 and had a standout career as a defensive lineman at North Carolina A&T. He knew he wouldn't have a playing future in the NFL. Still, he wanted to stay involved with the sport.
Unfortunately for Brad, he heard the word "No" repeatedly. He worked at a local rental car business and lived at home with his mother.
"I’ll never forget. I was sitting down in my mom’s living room, and I was trying to watch a preseason game, and I couldn’t watch it," he said via Zoom call. "That’s when it hit me. It’s like… what, like, what am I gonna do?"
Holmes finally landed an internship with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks. Still renting cars to make extra money, Brad networked into a public relations position with the Rams organization. The only problem was that it was an internship, not a full-time job.
He interned for two more years. Finally, after the third year, I said, “Brad, you have to get a real job,” his mother, Dr. Joan Holmes, said with a chuckle via video chat. "I can no longer hold you on my insurance. So he finally got a scouting assistant job."
Brad spent 18 seasons with the Rams, grinding his way up the organization's depth chart.
"Kept my head down, kept doing my job. I went from scouting assistant to combine scout to an area scout. I was able to go to a national scout and become a college director. And the rest is history."
Brad's mother remembers the day her phone rang in January of 2021 when her son called to tell her the Lions had hired him as their GM.
"Tears coming down my face. I was, like, almost hysterical. I really couldn’t even talk," she remembered. "It was like they finally recognized him for his talent. It finally paid off. And I just thought about all the effort that he made to put into it. And I guess that was part of the whole emotion."
Brad said there wasn't any time to celebrate. Two weeks into the job, he traded quarterback and franchise legend Matthew Stafford to the Rams in exchange for QB Jared Goff and additional draft picks. His first three drafts have been among the best in the league, and the Lions have quickly proven themselves to be contenders in the NFC.
"If anyone could pull this off, it would be Brad," Dr. Holmes said confidently. "I remember the press calling me, 'Could you tell me a little bit about him?' I said, what I can tell you about him is that he is going to help you win games because he understands players. And he’s going to get you some great players. And they were like, 'Yeah, yeah. Okay, sure. She’s just a mom,'" she recalled with a laugh.
"We’ll always be the hunters. We’ll always be hungry. We’re about grit," Brad said emphatically. "We’ll never be fat and happy. We’ll always stay starving. That’s what we’re about. That’s what our culture’s about."
The NFL is working to increase minority involvement throughout the league. The league has nine general managers of color, up from one in 2019. However, there are only three black head coaches and seven minority team presidents. The Lions started the Wally Triplett Rotational Fellowship Program to help applicants from diverse backgrounds reach the NFL's door. The program was named for Triplett, the third black player drafted when the Lions took him in 1949. He was the first to take the field.
"It’s an opportunity for minority, recent college graduates to be a in a rotational program within our organization. To experience so many different departments besides coaching and scouting," Holmes explained. "There’s analytics, there’s marketing, there’s corporate partnerships, there’s community relations. That’s one component that we can control to ensure that we’re setting up the future leaders for success, and hopefully, we can progress in those other positions."
Holmes hopes he can inspire the next generation of kids who grow up watching their favorite players whenever they can.
"It was a fence where the defensive line used to practice," Brad recalled. "I used to watch Warren Sapp, and Booger McFarland, and Simeon Rice, and all those guys. I’d just be in awe. Just Tampa and that whole culture always holds a special place in my heart."
This weekend is a work trip, but Holmes says he always has a separate to-do list whenever he gets to come home.
"I always try to get a Cuban sandwich when I get home. I’ve become much more of a cigar connoisseur as I’ve gotten older. I’d love to make a trip to Ybor City. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get it all in," he joked. "I just love coming back. Love coming home. Tampa’s just a special place."
The Bucs (3-1) and Lions (4-1) kick off Sunday at 4:25 at Raymond James Stadium.
