Lions GM Brad Holmes Details Wild Story From Car Rental Desk To PR Intern And Now NFL GM

There's no set of rules for how someone becomes an NFL GM, but if there were, Detroit Lions GM Brad Holmes' story would probably break most of them.

And that's particularly what makes it so interesting and inspiring.

Holmes spoke with NFL Insider Peter Schrager about his unusual route to leading the Detroit Lions.

"I moved back home and I was renting cars for Enterprise Rent-A-Car," Holems explained. "An opportunity came about with the Atlanta Hawks.

"I only could only work 40 hours a week with the Atlanta Hawks. It was a media relations training position. Enterprise allowed me to work part-time at the Atlanta airport. And then I go to the Atlanta Airport and I would just rent cars so probably about 11 o'clock at night."

Holmes Worked His Way Up Through The Rams Organization

Holmes explained that through his PR job with the Hawks, he was introduced to some folks who worked in PR for NFL teams. That led him to the St. Louis Rams, where he became a PR intern. From that, he got the chance to work as a scouting intern.

"Every now and then Charlie (Armey, former Rams GM) would ask one of the scouting assistants, you know, to come in and talk about the players," Holmes explained. "And he's like, 'What did you think?' And I told him, I said, 'I think he's this I think he's that.'"

A great opportunity, but can you imagine how nerve-wracking that must have been?

From there, Holmes spent 18 seasons as part of the Rams organization and eventually became the organization's Director of College Scouting.

Then in 2021, he was named the Lions' Executive Vice President and General Manager

That's not the most traditional way to become an NFL GM by any means, but it shows that if you're willing to grind, nothing is out of reach.

"You just got to have you've got to be convicted," Holmes said. "And you've got to know that you're not going to have the easiest path."

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