Warrick Donte Holdman (born November 22, 1975) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

. He was originally drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

Early years

Holdman was a Super Prep

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n selection, first team Class 5A all-state and all-greater

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

first team as a senior at Alief Elsik High School in Alief. He was rated as one of the top linebackers in the nation after totaling 151 tackles and three sacks as a senior.

College career

Holdman was recruited by

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

and granted medical redshirt in 1994. As a freshman, he played in nine games with one start and ended the season with 44 tackles, two sacks, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. In his sophomore season in 1996, he finished second on the team with 73 tackles and added 2.5 sacks, three pass defenses and a forced fumble. As a junior, Holdman started every game and finished with 81 tackles, five sacks and played in the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

. He was named an All-America honorable mention by College Sports News as senior in 1998. Holdman was first a team all-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

selection. He finished with 95 tackles, eight pass break-ups, seven sacks, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and one interception. He finished career with 294 tackles, 46 for losses, 16.5 sacks and seven forced fumbles.

Professional career

Holdman was drafted in the 1999 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. That year, Holdman started as nickel linebacker and on special teams before landing a starting spot on the weak side. He played in all 16 games, and had 75 tackles. He also had two sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and 11 special teams tackles. Holdman had a superb sophomore season in 2000, in which he had 87 tackles. He also added nine tackles on special teams. In 2001, Holdman came back strong after rehabilitating his injured left knee, starting 15 of 16 games, recording a career-high 145 tackles and three forced fumbles. Unfortunately, in 2002, he started the first four games before suffering a season-ending right knee injury. In his fifth season with the Bears in 2003, he returned from a knee injury to start 13 games and totaled 79 tackles. Holdman was then traded to the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

in 2004, where he appeared in all 16 games, starting 14, and posted 110 tackles, a half sack and three pass breakups. He then moved to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in 2005, where he played in 14 games, starting 7 of them. On April 26, 2007, he signed a one-year deal with the Broncos. On February 11, 2008 the Broncos released him.

External links

Denver Broncos bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holdman, Warrick 1975 births Living people People from Houston Players of American football from Texas American football linebackers Texas A&M Aggies football players Chicago Bears players Cleveland Browns players Washington Redskins players Denver Broncos players