Snyder High School senior quarterback Larry Holmes has constantly received comments about having the same name as the former world heavyweight boxing champion.
“Ever since I was a little kid, people have always said something to me about it,” Holmes said. “Every time I would meet someone new, that would be the first thing they would say. People would ask me if I was related or why didn’t I become a boxer instead of a football player. It was always something like that. I just wanted to make a name for myself.”
Holmes figured he could evolve into his own person by playing football at Snyder, and he earned a spot on the varsity as a sophomore. However, he didn’t exactly have a memorable beginning to his career.
“The first three times he carried the ball in his first game, he fumbled,” Snyder head coach Eric Piccolo said. “That’s true,” Holmes added. “I guess I was nervous or something. It was my first varsity game and I wanted to prove I could play. But I fumbled the ball the first three times I touched it.”
Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Holmes picked himself up, dusted himself off and went back into the fray. “It’s just the way I am,” Holmes said. “I’m not the kind of person to go into the tank when things go wrong. I kept my head up and went back out there.”
“Larry just kept on running,” Piccolo said. “The fumbles never fazed him. A lot of other kids would have hung their heads and walked away, but Larry is a special kid. He has so much confidence in himself. I knew that he would pull himself out of it. Once I saw that Larry wanted the ball again, I knew that he was really something special.”
But Piccolo had no idea just how special Holmes would eventually become, transforming himself into one of the most versatile and least selfish players in Snyder history.
After a solid sophomore year as a running back, Holmes was asked by Piccolo to become a quarterback to begin his junior year.
“I knew that he could become one of the best running backs in the county, but we really needed Larry at quarterback,” Piccolo said. “I knew that it would shut him down from a lot of things, like showing what he could do at running back, but he’s not a selfish kid at all and accepted what he had to do. As much as he is a great running back, he had to play quarterback for us. He knew he had to do the right thing so that the team could be better.”
Holmes didn’t know about the position change.
“At first, I wasn’t too sure about it,” Holmes said. “I hardly ever played quarterback before. I did a little bit when I was a freshman. But I was mostly a running back. I’ve always been one to step up to a challenge. I would make any sacrifice for the benefit of the team. I was willing to do anything.”
Holmes stepped in at quarterback and has done a little bit of everything ever since.
“He’s really in the mix in everything we do,” Piccolo said.
However, Holmes wasn’t pleased with the way he performed over the first five weeks of the current season.
“I think we had a tough time trusting each other over the first five weeks,” Holmes said. “I was struggling a little, because I felt like I had something to prove. I worked hard in trying to bring it all together. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well.”
Things have changed for the better over the last two weeks. Holmes has really picked up his game and the Tigers have followed suit, winning games over Dickinson and Ferris that enabled the Tigers to clinch the Jersey City public school championship.
“We got the bond now, and we’re playing together as a team,” Holmes said. “I’ve been playing every down like it’s been my last.”
Last week against Ferris, Holmes rushed for 172 yards and scored a touchdown, completed eight of 14 passes for 103 yards and three touchdowns, ran in a two-point conversion and threw a conversion pass in Snyder’s 30-19 win. He’s thrown for six touchdowns and ran for five in the last two weeks, both wins.
For his efforts, Holmes has been selected as The Hudson Reporter Athlete of the Week for the past week. Piccolo believes that Holmes is a leader on and off the field.
“On the field, he does whatever he has to do and leads by example,” Piccolo said. “The kids all know that when Larry does well, we do well, and Snyder gets talked about. Off the field, Larry’s the most popular kid at Snyder High School. He’s the standard bearer in the school. Whenever the school needs a representative, he’s the one who is picked.”
Before the school year began, the Jersey City Board of Education put out a calendar of events, featuring the upcoming school year. On the cover of the calendar were Superintendent of Schools Dr. Charles Epps and none other than Larry Holmes.
“My attitude is always to remain positive,” Holmes said. “I know I have a responsibility with my leadership. I just always try to do the right thing and hope that others follow along. If they do the right thing as well, then everything turns out fine. I don’t mind being the leader and being the one everyone looks to. Like I’ve said, I like challenges.”
Although he’s not the biggest guy in the world (5-9 and 170 pounds), Holmes hopes to be able to get a chance to play college football.
“Rutgers has been following him since he was a sophomore,” Piccolo said. “They liked him back then and thought he was a senior then, because he played like a senior and acted like one. He goes to the Rutgers camp every year, so they know him. Larry is a good student and just took his SATs [Scholastic Aptitude Test].”
In fact, Holmes is so dedicated that he took the SAT Saturday morning – and then went to Caven Point Cochrane Stadium an hour after completing the test to play in the game against Ferris.
“I would love to go to college and play on the next level,” Holmes said. “I’ve thought about that a lot. I don’t know what the future holds, but I would like that to happen.”
Piccolo said that Holmes deserves a lot of credit for sticking it out through the tough times, especially accepting the position change along the way.
“Anyone else might have been crying and whining that we’re not winning, that there’s a lack of notoriety, but Larry understands it all,” Piccolo said. “I always said that he would get his due. He’s just such a special kid. I can’t explain it. But he’s just meant so much to us for the last three years. He’s been there with us every step of the way, so he deserves everything he gets.”
Holmes is happy that his recent performances have catapulted him into the spotlight.
“I hope that no one forgets me now,” Holmes said.
Even if they might confuse him with the former boxer?
“Hey, there’s always room in the world for more than one Larry Holmes,” he laughed.
Well put. – Jim Hague