Maybe he was still in a state of shock, or maybe the reality hadn’t quite sunk in yet, but when former Kansas University linebacker James Holt phoned friends and family this week to let them know he’d been added to the San Diego Chargers’ active roster, he apparently did so with a noticeable level of passivity.
“My mom and some of the people back home didn’t think I was very excited,” Holt said this week from California. “But it was just so humbling at the time.”
Rest easy, mom — Holt’s plenty excited.
After signing with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent last April, Holt has steadily progressed as a member of the team’s practice squad, and with his recent promotion, becomes just the sixth former Kansas player currently listed on an NFL active roster — joining Cincinnati Bengals offensive tackle Anthony Collins, Buffalo Bills tight end Derek Fine, Pittsburgh Steelers center Justin Hartwig, San Francisco 49ers fullback Moran Norris and Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib.
Wide receiver Marcus Henry (New York Jets) and linebacker Mike Rivera (Tennessee Titans) are currently members of NFL practice squads.
“To finally get that relief and sign a different contract and be a part of the (53-man roster), I’m just glad to see that if you work hard, you’ll reap what you sow,” said Holt, who is expected to dress for the Chargers’ 3:15 p.m. road game against the New York Giants on Sunday. “I’m just glad that my hard work finally paid off.”
While Holt’s recent call-up represented a significant step for the 6-foot-2, 223-pound Holt, meanwhile, it shouldn’t come as too surprising a development for those who watched him play last season. As a member of Kansas’ highly-touted linebacking corps, which also included Rivera and Joe Mortensen, Holt earned all-Big 12 honors and looked like the team’s most NFL-ready player for much of the fall.
Working primarily out of a three-point stance, Holt finished his senior season as the Jayhawks’ leader in tackles (105), tackles for loss (19.5) and sacks (10), and as a member of the Chargers, he says, he has been used in much the same manner.
“They’re still letting me get down in a three-point and rush off the edge,” Holt said. “So it’s been really fun to just go out there and play with some of the best players in the world.”
Holt said this week that he’s hoping to see action on special teams against the Giants — “(Special teams) is something I take a lot of pride in,” he said. “That’s where I started out at Kansas” — though he’s more than willing to help out at linebacker, as well, a position in which the Chargers have been plagued by injuries this fall.
While appearing in all four of San Diego’s preseason games this summer, Holt finished with eight tackles.
Due to the sudden nature of his promotion, Holt, a native of Altus, Okla., said his family wouldn’t be able to make it to New York for the game, but friend Kyle Reesing, the older brother of Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing, is expected to be in attendance, and Holt said he’d work on getting family members to the Chargers’ next home game, Nov. 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the meantime, he’ll focus on making the most of any opportunity he receives this weekend as a member of a Chargers team that, at 4-3, finds itself in second place in the AFC West behind 6-1 Denver.
“That’s the whole thing about this job,” he said. “Once you get put in, you just got to get your job done, because you’re a professional.”
Bettin’ man: Although much of his time today will be spent preparing for what he hopes will be his NFL regular-season debut Sunday, it’s safe to assume that Holt will manage to find a few minutes to track the progress of the Sunflower Showdown.
Holt currently has bets going with Chargers teammates Darren Sproles and Jeromey Clary — both Kansas State alums — as to the outcome of the annual meeting between Kansas and K-State. The stakes are simple — loser wears a T-shirt featuring the rival college for a week — and as of now, Holt says he’s feeling pretty good about his alma mater’s chances.
“I get a little shaky sometimes,” he said. “Those rivalry games can go either way. Kansas State can be top in the nation and we could come in there and beat them, or it can be the other way around. (But) we got three on them in the past four years, so we’re in their head, definitely.”
Holt confident ‘banged up’ Reesing will rebound: Todd Reesing will be fine.
That’s what Holt believes, and that’s the sentiment he has passed along in recent conversations with his friend and former roommate, who has suffered the first real slump of his Kansas career during the Jayhawks’ recent three-game losing streak.
“He was telling me that he was kind of banged up,” Holt said. “I was banged up last year, and I was taking all kinds of anti-inflammatories and stuff just to keep playing. So I told him just to keep his head up. … He knows he’s a good player. He’s going to have rough games. It’s all about how you bounce back in football.”
“I think he’ll be fine,” he added. “You can’t stay perfect throughout the whole season, so I think he’ll be fine. Coaches will keep giving him some shots and stuff like that.”