Ladainian Tomlinson is the best NFL Running Back of his era, and will be considered among the best of all time. He has the size at 5 ft 10 and 221 pounds to take the beating his position requires. Plus he is blessed with good speed and even more important. Field awareness. But he isn’t just a great running back, he seems to be a great guy as well.
Ladainian The Football Player
The San Diego Chargers made a great deal in the 2001 draft, trading away the rights to Michael Vick. They traded them to Atlanta for picks and Tim Dwight a wide receiver best known for special teams play. One of the picks turned out to be Ladainian Tomlinson whom they took with the 5th overall pick in the NFL draft.
Ladainian played his college football at Texas Christian University in Forth Worth Texas. He was a pretty good running back there, you could say. He rushed for 5,263 yards in his career including a 406 yard game against the University of Texas El Paso. His senior season saw him win the Doak Walker award and finish 4th in the voting for the Heisman Trophy.
An immediate starter with the Chargers he soon showed the 4 teams made a mistake by not drafting him. He ran for 1,236 yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie. As a matter of fact he gets 1,200 yards rushing and at least 50 pass receptions a year. He also throws an occasional touchdown pass and blocks blitzers going after the quarterback.
In 111 games (not counting preseason or playoffs) Ladainian has 10,650 rushing yards on 2.365 carries for a 4.5 yards per rush average. He has added 115 rushing touchdowns and 458 receptions for 3,375 yards and 14 touchdowns,
Ladainian Tomlinson has carried the ball a lot in his career and some thought he may be winding down. So many running backs get burned out (Earl Campbell comes to mind). But of late the Chargers and coach Norv Turner are trying to watch his carries. He seldom plays in preseason now. This limits regular wear and tear on his body plus keeps from risking a major injury in a meaningless game. Plus they limited his carries in some regular season games that were already decided. Having a backup as good as Michael Turner helps. Plus with the addition of Chris Chambers (former Dolphin wide receiver) gives Quarterback Phillip Rivers, more options. The fact that Rivers is still developing into a fine player will help LT in the long run.
Ladainian Tomlinson The Man
Ladainian Tomlinson isn’t just a great football player; he makes a genuine effort to give back to the community. He has started his own foundation, called “Tomlinson’s Touching Lives Foundation, Inc.
His foundation works towards helping families and kids in a variety of ways. Including giving tickets to kids for Chargers Games, and giving gifts and food out during the holidays. There also scholarships and a football camp, associated with the foundation. I can’t do the foundation justice in this article so I urge you to go to their website to see it for yourself.
Tomlinson has won numerous awards for his on and off the field accomplishments, including the Walter Payton award. He has also won the FedEx player of the week award, which is in part for charity work. LT is not just a good NFL player, he is a good man.
