• Kirwan: Premium on home-grown talent

  NFL - Found Jul. 2, 2009 ... running backs went over 1,000 rushing yards (Chicago's Anthony Thomas, San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson and Indianapolis' Dominic Rhodes did it...

• Fantasy Clicks: Rushing to mock judgment with rushers

  SI.com - Found Jul. 1, 2009 Tsk-tsk. LaDainian Tomlinson or Marion Barber? Ritter: I saw enough during the second half of last season to make me believe Tomlinson is on...

• Tomlinson not feeling like 'ancient old man' at 30

  Sacramento Bee - Found Jun. 26, 2009 FORT WORTH, Texas -- LaDainian Tomlinson laughs about the phone call he got on his 30th birthday this week from his younger brother, who referred to Tomlinson not feeling like 'ancient old man' at 30 - Minneapolis Star Tribune Tomlinson not feeling like 'ancient old man' at 30 - Seattle Times Tomlinson not feeling like 'ancient old man' at 30 - Boston Globe Tomlinson not feeling like 'ancient old man' at 30 - Denver Post Explore All

• Fantasy Football 2009: 20 Burning Questions

  SI.com - Found Jun. 24, 2009 ... s premier player isn't as clear-cut as it has been in the past few years, when LaDainian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson ruled. Tomlinson (see No.

• LaDainian Tomlinson is back with his eighth annual Camp LT

  Waco Tribune Herald - Found Jun. 24, 2009 San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson will bring his eighth annual Camp LT back to Waco starting Sunday at Baylor?s Floyd Casey

• Chargers' LaDainian Tomlinson pleased with recovery from injuries

  Hamilton Spectator - Found May. 4, 2009 SAN DIEGO - LaDainian Tomlinson was back where he wanted to be: Chargers Park. Tomlinson, whose return to San Diego was in doubt before he...

• Fantasy Island - Top RBs

  Sports Network - Found Jul. 3, 2009 ... fact, I learned something about my own opinion of LaDainian Tomlinson heading into this season. Rounds after I chose Tomlinson fourth overall...

• At least Manny Ramirez paid a penalty

  Los Angeles Times - Found Jul. 2, 2009 ... bring California its next pro sports championship, according to odds posted at BetUS.com, with LaDainian Tomlinson and the San Diego Chargers...

• NFL Top 5: Football's best running back tandems

  Covers.com - Found Jul. 3, 2009 ... backup to LaDainian Tomlinson in four years before moving to Atlanta, and should be fresh into the next decade.

• Fantasy Football 2009 : Top 5 Buffalo Bills to Draft

  Associated Content - Found Jul. 2, 2009 Fantasy RBs One question has arisen this offseason in terms of fantasy running backs: Larry Johnson, LaDainian Tomlinson, or Shaun Alexander?

LaDainian Tomlinson

Tomlinson warming up
San Diego Chargers — No. 21
Running back
Date of birth: June 23, 1979 (1979-06-23) (age 30)
Place of birth: Rosebud, Texas
Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Weight: 221 lb (100 kg)
Professional debut
2001 for the San Diego Chargers
Career history
College: Texas Christian
NFL Draft: 2001 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5
Teams: San Diego Chargers (2001–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
College awards and honors 5× Pro Bowl selection (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) 4× First-team All-Pro selection (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007) 2× Second-team All-Pro (2002, 2003) AP NFL MVP (2006) PFWA NFL MVP (2006) Co-Walter Payton M.O.Y (2006) Best NFL Player ESPY Award (2007) Best Record-Breaking Performance ESPY Award (2007) Best Male Athlete ESPY Award (2007) List of NFL records
Selected NFL statistics (through Week 17 of the 2008 NFL season)
Rushing yards	11,760
Rushing average	4.4
Rushing TDs	126
Receptions	510
Receiving yards	3,801
Receiving TDs	15
Stats at NFL.com

LaDainian Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979) is an American football running back for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League. Tomlinson was drafted in the first round (5th overall) of the 2001 NFL Draft in which he was part of an infamous trade which sent him to the Chargers and the 1st overall pick, Michael Vick to the Atlanta Falcons. He played college football at Texas Christian University. Tomlinson set several records during the 2006 NFL season by scoring a league-leading 186 points. He received additional honors by winning the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award and the Associated Press’ Offensive Player of the Year Award.¹

Tomlinson is often referred to by his initials, LT. During Chargers home games, the scoreboard at Qualcomm Stadium flashes his initials after a good offensive play.

Early years

LaDainian Tomlinson was born to Loreane Chappelle and Oliver Tomlinson in Rosebud, Texas. His early life was full of adversity; his brother and grandfather both died when he was a child, forcing him to support the remaining members of the family by himself.^{citation needed}

Tomlinson attended University High School in Waco, Texas, where he played basketball, baseball, and football. Tomlinson began his football career as a linebacker, but blossomed on the offensive side of the ball. Tomlinson amassed 2,554 yards (2,335 m) and 39 touchdowns his senior year, earning honors as the District 25-4A Most Valuable Player, Super Centex Offensive Player of the Year.²³

Tomlinson was an avid Dallas Cowboys and Miami Hurricanes fan during his youth. He especially idolized Walter Payton, Jim Brown, and Emmitt Smith. He trained with Smith during a summer camp. In a later interview with ESPN, Tomlinson stated that his playing style and mentality were influenced by the three running backs.²⁴⁵

College career

Tomlinson was recruited by many schools, but he was not considered one of the nation's top backs coming out of high school. Many felt this was because Tomlinson did not play running back until his senior year in high school and many top colleges had already made their recruiting choices by then. Thus, Tomlinson signed with Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, a small school then in the Western Athletic Conference. Prior to Tomlinson's arrival, TCU had appeared in only one bowl game in the previous 12 seasons (and 2 in the previous 34), and had recently been "downgraded" to a minor conference (the Western Athletic Conference) after the breakup of the long-standing Southwest Conference. TCU is now part of the Mountain West Conference.

During Tomlinson's freshman and sophomore years, he split time with Basil Mitchell. In the 1998 season he helped the Horned Frogs win its first bowl win in 41 years against the University of Southern California in the Sun Bowl.⁶ During his junior season in 1999, he set an NCAA record for yards in one game with 406 against UTEP. He ended the year with an NCAA-leading 1,850 yards (1,690 m) rushing to go along with 18 touchdowns.

In his senior season in 2000, Tomlinson led the NCAA for the second time with 2,158 yards (1,973 m) and 22 touchdowns while piling on 354 yards (324 m) receiving. He won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back, and was a finalist for the Heisman, but came in fourth. He completed his college career with 5,263 rushing yards, ranking sixth in NCAA Division I history.⁷

The school retired his jersey number (5) during halftime of a November 2005 game against UNLV.⁸ In December of that year, Tomlinson fulfilled a promise to his mother by earning his degree in communications from TCU.⁹

College awards and honors

• Mobile Alabama Bowl MVP (2000)
• Doak Walker Award (2000)
• Jim Brown Trophy (2000)
• Senior Bowl Most Valuable Player (2001)

NFL career

2001 NFL Draft

The San Diego Chargers selected Tomlinson in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft, as the fifth overall pick. The Chargers possessed the draft’s first selection, but traded the pick to the Atlanta Falcons, who drafted Michael Vick. In this way, many consider that Vick and Tomlinson were “traded” for each other^{citation needed}, although the transaction was actually the result of traded draft picks.

In exchange for San Diego's #1 pick, with which Atlanta selected Vick, the Chargers received Atlanta's #5 pick (used to draft Tomlinson), Atlanta's third-round (67th overall) pick, which San Diego used to select Tay Cody, and Atlanta's second-round pick in 2002, which San Diego would use to select Reche Caldwell.¹⁰ San Diego also received Atlanta's wide receiver Tim Dwight. The Chargers' general manager, John Butler, made the deal contingent on San Diego receiving Dwight, to which Atlanta agreed.¹¹

(* represents NFL Combine)

San Diego Chargers

Tomlinson being tackled by Jeremiah Trotter at the 2006 Pro Bowl.

Tomlinson immediately became the starting running back with the Chargers and has started all but one game since. The one game he did not start was due to a choice by the coach to sit Tomlinson out during the last regular season game before the playoffs - not due to any kind of injury. He achieved immediate success in the NFL, rushing for over 1,200 yards and making over 50 receptions in each of his seven seasons. He has also proven to be effective as a passer, having completed eight career passes, seven of them for touchdowns and a career passer rating of 154.4.¹³

In 2003, he became the first player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards and record 100 receptions in the same season.¹⁴ He also reached his 50th career touchdown in his 4th season (60th game) and was elected to the Pro Bowl team in 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006. Tomlinson also tied Lenny Moore's all-time record for consecutive games scoring a TD (18).

On October 16, 2005, in the Chargers' victory over the Oakland Raiders, LaDainian Tomlinson became the 7th player in NFL history to run, catch, and throw for a touchdown in the same game. Despite breaking his ribs towards the end of the 2005 season, LaDainian continued to play and finished the season with 1,462 rushing yards, 370 receiving yards, and a career high 20 touchdowns (18 rushing, 2 receiving). In 2005 he was nominated for the FedEx Ground Player of the Year Award. Tomlinson placed third behind Tiki Barber and Shaun Alexander.

In the 2006 season, he set an NFL record by scoring 19 touchdowns in a span of 6 games, including a franchise record 4 touchdowns in games against the San Francisco 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals and the Denver Broncos. He is the first to score three TDs in three straight games, and the first to have three games of four or more TDs in one season. He became the fastest player ever to score 100 touchdowns. On November 19, 2006, Tomlinson accomplished the milestone in 89 games with 102, beating the previous record of 93 games held by Jim Brown and Emmitt Smith. On Dec. 3, 2006, Tomlinson became the first running back to rush for at least 1,236 yards in his first six NFL seasons (he has now done so in his first seven years as well). On December 7, he was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month.¹⁵

He scored his 29th touchdown against the Denver Broncos in just 13 games (Alexander set the record in 16).¹ His 2 touchdown passes do not count toward this record because the NFL treats them in a separate category. With the first touchdown against Kansas City on December 17, he surpassed the most points in a season by an NFL player; one which had stood for 46 years. Tomlinson would finish his record breaking season with 2,323 yards from scrimmage (combined rushing and receiving) and 31 touchdowns (28 rushing, 3 receiving).

On January 4, 2007, Tomlinson was awarded with the NFL AP Most Valuable Player Award for his record-breaking season. He was the runaway winner, receiving 44 of the 50 votes from a panel of nationwide sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the NFL. Former teammate Drew Brees, now with New Orleans, received four votes and Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning received two votes. Tomlinson was also one of 9 Chargers players selected for the 2007 Pro Bowl and also a starting running back of the American Football Conference. He was also named AP Offensive Player of the Year and later named NBC Player of the Year. He was later named co-holder of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award alongside his aforementioned former teammate Drew Brees. On July 11, 2007, Tomlinson won the ESPY Awards for Male Athlete of the Year, Best Record-Breaking Performance and Best NFL Athlete, as well as the Hummer Like Nothing Else Award.

Tomlinson went on to rush for 123 yards, catch 2 passes for 64 yards, and score 2 touchdowns in the Chargers divisional playoff loss to the New England Patriots on January 14, 2007. After the game, he was upset at the Patriots and their head coach Bill Belichick for performing a victory dance that mocked fellow Charger Shawne Merriman on the center-field logo at Qualcomm Stadium.

On December 2, 2007 Tomlinson passed Walter Payton on the all time rushing touchdown list, with his 111th career rushing TD, against the Kansas City Chiefs.¹⁶ A few days later, Tomlinson honored Payton by wearing his jersey during a press conference. Tomlinson led the league in rushing with a total of 1,474 rushing yards in 2007, becoming the first player since Edgerrin James in 2000, to win back-to-back rushing titles.¹⁷

Tomlinson during practice in 2008.

Tomlinson ran for just 42 yards on 21 carries and caught 3 passes for 19 yards, but did score a touchdown in the Chargers wild-card playoff victory over the Tennessee Titans on January 6, 2008. He scored his touchdown on fourth and goal, leaping over the pile and reaching across the goal line to help secure the fourth quarter lead for the Chargers. Tomlinson bruised his left knee and missed the 2nd half of the Chargers divisional playoff win over the Indianapolis Colts on January 13, 2008. Tomlinson just had two carries and 5 yards in the AFC title game, before sitting out the rest of the game, as the Chargers would lose to the New England Patriots on January 20, 2008.

LT, 2006

Tomlinson did not participate in the Chargers' offseason program in 2008 because of the injury. Much like the previous year, Tomlinson got off to a slow start, not having a 100-yard rushing performance until week 4 against the Oakland Raiders while having averaged just 3.3 yards per carry the first 3 weeks. Tomlinson averaged just 17 carries per game up to midseason and had only had four rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown. Though Tomlinson managed only two 100-yard rushing performances on the season, he managed to top the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the 8th consecutive time in his career which placed him third all-time alongside Thurman Thomas for consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons behind Curtis Martin, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith. He ended the seasons with a career-low 1,110 rushing yards on a career-low 292 attempts and 11 touchdowns thanks to a three-touchdown performance in the final game of the 2008 season. He also moved up the all-time list of touchdowns, getting his 126th rushing touchdown, which passed Marcus Allen's 123 and his 141st touchdown moved him closer to Marcus Allen's 145 total touchdowns in a career which is tied for third all-time with wide receiver Terrell Owens, behind Emmitt Smith (175) and Jerry Rice (208). Tomlinson partially tore his groin in the finale against Denver. He played the first half in the wild-card round against the Colts before re-injuring the groin and missing the Charger's divisional loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After a contentious off-season negotiation, Tomlinson and the Chargers came to an agreement on March 10, 2009 to restructure his three-year contract so that he may remain a Charger.¹⁸

Records

NFL

• Holds the all-time NFL record for single season touchdowns (31). (The previous record was 28, it was set in 2005 by Shaun Alexander.¹⁹)
• Holds the all-time NFL record for single season rushing touchdowns (28). (The previous record was 27, in 2003 by Priest Holmes and in 2005 by Shaun Alexander.²⁰)
• Holds the all-time NFL record for the most points scored in a single season (186). (The previous record was 176. It was set in 1960 by Paul Hornung.²¹)
• Holds the all-time NFL record for most consecutive games with a rushing touchdown (18). (The Previous record was 13, it was set in 1983 by John Riggins)
• Holds the NFL record for most consecutive multi-touchdown games (8). (The previous record was 7, it was set in 1983 by John Riggins.²²)
• Tied the record for most consecutive games with a touchdown score with Hall of Fame fullback Lenny Moore (18).
• Tied for third place for most career 200-yard (180 m) rushing games with several other players (4).
• Holds the all-time San Diego Chargers record for most career rushing yards (11,760). (The previous record was 4,972, it was set in 1968 by Paul Lowe.)
• Holds the all-time San Diego Chargers record for most career touchdowns (141). (The previous record was 83, it was set in 1970 by Lance Alworth.)
• Holds the all-time NFL record for fewest games needed to achieve 100 touchdowns, with his 100th career touchdown (90 rushing, 10 receiving) in his 89th game (breaking the previous record of achieving the mark in the 93rd game of a career, which was done by both Jim Brown and Emmitt Smith).
• Second place on the list of NFL all-time rushing touchdown leaders -- behind Emmitt Smith.
• In 2006 Tomlinson became the second player in NFL history to score 4 touchdowns in 2 straight games (Marshall Faulk is the other).
• Holds the record for most touchdowns scored in a five game span with 16 TDs (14 rushing, 2 receiving), breaking his own record of 15 that he had set two weeks earlier. Prior to that, the record was held by Jim Brown with 14.
• Became the only player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards (910 m) and receive 100 passes in a single season.
• Second player in NFL history with 1,800 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in one season.
• LaDainian joins Emmitt Smith, Priest Holmes, Shaun Alexander, and Marshall Faulk as the only running backs to record consecutive seasons of 20 or more touchdowns

Personal

LaDainian was introduced to his future wife, LaTorsha Oakley, while the two were students at TCU. They married on March 21st, 2003. The couple currently reside with their three dogs in a 10,000-square-foot (930 m²) house in Poway, a suburb of San Diego.

On February 23, 2007 in Waco, Texas, LaDainian's father, Oliver Tomlinson, and brother-in-law Ronald McClain, died in an auto accident from a blown tire,²³ causing a one-vehicle rollover. McClain, 48, was taken by ambulance to Waco's Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, where he died. Charlie Morgan of the Texas Department of Public Safety reported that both men were thrown from the pickup truck. Oliver, 71, was killed instantly, while McClain reached the hospital but subsequently died. LaDainian said he was devastated by these events but that the words and lessons given to him by his father will always live in him.²⁴

Tomlinson has been featured in several commercials for Nike, Campbell Soup and Vizio.²⁵

In April 2007, Tomlinson turned down a request to become the cover athlete and official spokesperson for EA Sports' Madden NFL 08 video game.²⁶ Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young was eventually selected for the cover.

In June 2007, Tomlinson signed with FOXSports.com to promote FOX Sports Fantasy Football.²⁷

Tomlinson was named the 2007 Most Unstoppable Jock on Spike TV Guys' Choice Awards on June 13, 2007, beating out finalist Kobe Bryant. According to Spike, over 25,000 individuals voted on this award. Tomlinson appeared via teleconference to accept the award.²⁸

References

External links

• LaDainian Tomlinson at Chargers.com
• Tomlinson's personal website