Torry Holt Reflects on Career and His Place in History

The former Wolfpack star, who was inducted into the College FB Hall of Fame last month is now a finalist for the NFL's shrine

Torry Holt’s resume speaks for itself. A seven-time Pro Bowler who retired from the National Football League with the 10th most receiving yards including a record six consecutive seasons with 1300 yards.

He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 1999 and spent the next ten years with the franchise, including being part of one of the most iconic runs in NFL history, “The Greatest Show on Turf.”

Before all that, Holt was an All-American at NC State.

He was in New York City last month to be inducted along with the rest of the 2019 College Football Hall of Fame.

“Unbelievable man,” said Holt, who was also recently named as a finalist for the NFL Hall of Fame. “Very humbling. Excited. Glad that my family’s here with me and get an opportunity to take this in. So thankful to represent a fine institution in North Carolina State University … this is just a credit to the work I put in and credit to my teammates and coaches for believing in me and giving me an opportunity.”

His senior season, Holt was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year. He set ACC records of 88 receptions (since broken by Kenny Moore of Wake Forest) for 1,604 yards and school record 16 touchdowns.

He was also a consensus first-team All-American as a senior and a finalist for the Fred Biletnikoff Award, given to the nation’s top receiver. As a junior, he led the team, setting Wolfpack season records with 62 receptions for 1,099 yards while becoming the first player in team history to gain more than 1,000 yards in a single season.

Holt's number 81 was retired by the Wolfpack in 1999.

Despite all those achievements, his favorite moment was actually during his junior year, five-touchdown performance in a 24-7 victory back in September 1998 versus Bobby Bowden’s No. 2 Florida State Seminoles.

“My junior year in Tallahassee,” he said. “Those five touchdowns versus Florida State and the level of competition that they presented some would say was a coming-out party for me I think that sums up who I was and kind of launched me I was like I can do this I can play with anybody in the country that game is what best defines Torry Holt.”

The 1999-2001 St Louis Rams, a.k.a “The Greatest Show on Turf”, took the NFL by storm, The St. Louis Rams scored 526 points in the 1999 season, a team record which was broken in 2000 when they accumulated 540 points. For their last consecutive 500+ season, the Rams scored 503 points in 2001. These three seasons of 1,569 points were the most points scored by any team over any three-year stretch.

“Speed, speed, speed. Execution. Unselfishness. Hall of Famers: Marshall Faulk, Kurt Warner, Isaac Bruce will soon be a Hall of Famer. Orlando pace. Myself,” Holt said. “ There was a ton of talent. Everybody was so happy for each other’s success. That’s rare. It allowed us to go out, do our jobs and do it at a high level. We were competing but competing in a good way. It was all about excellence and all about championships.

Tom Brady’s 2007 New England Patriots went undefeated in the regular season (16-0) before ultimately falling to Eli Manning and the New York Giants in Super Bowl 42.

Brady threw for 50 touchdowns, an NFL-record for most in a single season, before being surpassed by Peyton Manning’s 53 with the Denver Broncos in 2013. 23 of Brady’s scores were to Hall of Famer Randy Moss, breaking the record for most receiving touchdowns in a season, which still holds true to this day (at least for now).

Putting those ‘07 Pats up against Holt’s “Greatest Show on Turf” along with quarterback Kurt Warner, running back Marshall Faulk and fellow receiver Isaac Bruce would be quite the sight to see.

“The ‘07 Patriots were dynamic,” Holt said. “Randy Moss. Tom Brady. Wes Welker. But you know I’ve gotta go with us. The number of points and the consecutive years we did it was unbelievable. We took the national football league by storm. The speed in which we played, the routes the concepts we were running and the points were incredible. I’d go with the greatest show on turf but no disrespect to those 07 pats the greatest show on turf was the best."

As one of the greatest wide receivers of all-time, Holt knows a thing or two about the position and gave his insight on who the best wideout to ever play the game is.

“Jerry Rice. If you look at Jerry Rice and the body of work, consistency, longevity, he got hurt later in his career with a knee injury and was even better, he may not have been the fastest and the biggest of players but he was very precise, hard-working, great run after the catch, good hands, just a phenomenal all-around athlete greatest receiver of all time.

Holt won’t get much argument on Rice at No.1. Between his three Super Bowl titles with Joe Montana, Super Bowl XXIII Most Valuable Player and holding the career records for receptions, touchdown receptions, and receiving yards, his resume is undisputed.

After that is where it gets interesting...

“Randy Moss was great, Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison, Isaac Bruce, Larry Fitzgerald, there’s just so many great receivers that played in our league,” Holt said. “Jerry set the standard for us to chase and we all were chasing. Larry is still in the league and still chasing but those are some guys that come to mind that are just exceptional off the chart receivers.”

Holt had plenty of battles versus the Clemson Tigers during his college days playing in the ACC.

The 2019 Tigers, led by quarterback Trevor Lawrence, are the defending National Champions and face off versus Joe Burrow and the LSU Tigers in the 2020 College Football Playoff title game on Saturday.

“Trevor Lawrence is incredible… I spoke to Dabo (at the NFF banquet in December) … he makes you feel like the most important person in the world,” Holt said. “And he’s probably the most important person in the world. That’s a unique gift that he has. You can see why his players play for him and his coaches respect him as well.