By Bob Harris, Special to SI.com FootballDiehards.com

In this case, the fun began in earnest when Holmes missed last week's game against Oakland and after a series of visits with spinal-injury specialists in California and Florida over the last two weeks.

It started with a story in the Kansas City Star on Sunday, which reported that Holmes was seeing a spine specialist and could be sidelined much longer than just one game, perhaps even the rest of the season. That story drew considerable attention, including CBS, which brought attention to the story during Sunday's telecast of the Raiders-Chiefs game.

It wasn't long before the fantasy world picked up on the story. By Tuesday, FantasyFootball.com was reporting that Holmes would not play in Week 10 and was unlikely to play again this season.

That report further suggested that sources close to the situation believed his career was in jeopardy.

The next day, Kansas City television station KSHB ran a report, citing "insiders at Arrowhead Stadium," stating that Holmes, very possibly, had "played his final game in a Chiefs uniform."

The report went on to indicate that a highly placed source told the station's sports director Jack Harry that Holmes could announce his retirement as soon as Thursday.

Wait. It got better: According to KSHB, doctors had found a lump and should Holmes take a severe hit, he could become paralyzed. Chiefs spokesman Pete Moris on Wednesday vehemently denied the KSHB report.

Shortly thereafter, an ESPN report -- citing unnamed sources -- indicated that Holmes would miss the rest of this season but added that his injuries were not believed to be career-ending.

It was almost like riding a roller coaster.

But as quickly as it started, the rampant speculation came to a screeching halt when the team made it official: Holmes was placed on injured reserve because of head and neck trauma diagnosed by three experts on spinal injuries.

A statement from Dr. Jon Browne, the Chiefs' team physician, said no permanent damage had occurred either to the head or neck and that Holmes would be re-evaluated after that 30-day break.

Chiefs president and general manager Carl Peterson added that doctors were not concerned about the possibility of paralysis should Holmes continue playing and that Holmes indicated he planned to resume his career next season.

End of story?

C'mon now. ... We're fantasy owners. Peterson's assertion that Holmes would continue playing only further fueled the speculative fires.

The next thing you know, the Star's Jason Whitlock is openly suggesting that Holmes may only play again if the Chiefs go after his signing bonus.

Then ProFootballtalk.com posted that Holmes may have called it a season because he didn't care for the physical nature of head coach Dick Vermeil's practices and that he'll only return next season if Vermeil doesn't.

Now Holmes' father, Herman Morris, claims his son plans to be back.

"He's not contemplating retirement," Morris told the Star in Friday's editions. "He wants to go out on top. He wants to go out his way. He plans on walking off, at God's will, writing his own script, not having someone else write it for him."

Sorry Pop. Too late for that. Just ask T.O.

Bob Harris is co-founder of the FootballDiehards Web site and senior editor at FSP Inc., publisher of Fantasy Football Pro Forecast, DraftBook, CheatSheets and Football Diehards magazines. He is a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association.