LaDainian Tomlinson

LaDainian Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979) is an American football player who currently plays running back for the San Diego Chargers of the NFL. He was the fifth pick in the 2001 NFL Draft after playing college football for Texas Christian University. Often called "LT", Tomlinson set a number of single season NFL records in the 2006 NFL season. He broke the all-time NFL single season touchdown record of 28 on December 10, 2006, in just thirteen games. In all, Tomlinson totalled 31 (rushing/receiving) touchdowns, and scored 186 points--both NFL records. On January 4th, 2007, he was named the MVP of the 2006 NFL season. The next day, he was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year.

Early life

LaDainian Tomlinson was born to Loreane Chappell and Oliver Tomlinson in Rosebud, Texas. His early life was full of adversity; his brother and grandfather passed away while he was a child, and his father became permanently disabled after suffering a severe back injury. Later, his parents divorced, and Loreane was forced to support the remaining members of the family by herself. However before leaving, Tomlinson’s father instilled an affection for football in his son.

Tomlinson attended University High School in Waco, Texas, where he played basketball, baseball, and football. Tomlinson began his football career as a linebacker, but always wanted to be a running back. During his senior year, Tomlinson’s coach noticed his rigorous work ethic and talent, and converted him into a running back. Tomlinson amassed 2554 yards and 39 touchdowns that year, earning honors as the District 25-4A Most Valuable Player, Super Centex Offensive Player of the Year, and a spot on a second-team All-State team.

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.

College career

Tomlinson attended college at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, where he started at running back. During his freshman and sophomore years, he split time with Basil Mitchell. In the 1997 season he helped the Horned Frogs win its first bowl game in 41 years against the University of Southern California in the Sun Bowl. 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 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 and 22 touchdowns. 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.

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

NFL career and accomplishments

Tomlinson was selected in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft with the fifth overall pick. The Chargers had the 1st pick in the draft that year but anticipated that they would be unable to sign the player who now earns the highest salary in NFL history Michael Vick, who was perceived as the best player in the year's draft class. Instead, they traded their number one pick to the Atlanta Falcons, for which they received the number five pick and other considerations. In this way, Tomlinson and Vick are linked as having been "traded" for each other, although the transaction was actually the result of traded draft picks and contract negotiations.

Tomlinson immediately became the starting running back with the Chargers and has started all but one game since. He has achieved immediate success in the NFL, rushing for over 1,200 yards and making over 50 receptions in each of his six seasons. He has also proven to be effective as a passer, having completed seven career passes, six of them for touchdowns and a career passer rating of 152.1.

In 2003, he became the first player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards and record 100 receptions in the same season. 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 December 3, Tomlinson became only the second running back (Eric Dickerson was the other) to rush for at least 1,200 yards in his first six NFL seasons. On December 7, he was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month.

On December 10, he broke Shaun Alexander's 2005 record of 28 touchdowns in a season by scoring his 29th touchdown against the Denver Broncos in just 13 games (Alexander set the record in 16). His 2 touchdown passes do not count toward this record because the NFL treats them in a separate category (for which Peyton Manning holds the record with 49 in a season). With the first touchdown against Kansas City on December 17, he surpassed Paul Hornung's record of 176 points for the Green Bay Packers in 1960, for most points in a season by an NFL player; one which had stood for 46 years. As of December 17th, Tomlinson has 2,110 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 a 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.

Records

NFL

• Holds the all-time NFL record for single season touchdowns (31). The previous record of 28, was set in 2005 by Shaun Alexander. Tomlinson broke Alexander's full-season record in 13 games.
• Holds the all-time NFL record for single season rushing touchdowns (28), breaking Shaun Alexander's previous record of 27, set in 2005.
• Holds the all-time NFL record for the most points in a single season (186). The previous record was set by Paul Hornung (176) in twelve games. Tomlinson accomplished this record in fourteen games. Notably, however, Hornung played the halfback and placekicker positions on his team, which granted him 7 points for every TD, rather than 6.
• Holds the all-time NFL record for most consecutive games with a rushing touchdown (18).
• Holds the NFL record for most consecutive multi-touchdown games (8), breaking his previous tie with John Riggins
• Tied the record for most consecutive games with a touchdown score (rushing or receiving) with Hall of Fame fullback Lenny Moore.
• Tied for third place for most career 200-yard rushing games (4).
• Is the San Diego Chargers' all-time leading rusher.
• Has the most career touchdowns in San Diego Chargers history, surpassing Hall of Famer Lance Alworth.
• In 2006 he became the fastest player to reach 100 touchdowns, with his 100th career touchdown (90 rushing, 10 receiving) in his 89th game (breaking the previous record of achieving this mark in the 93rd game held by both Jim Brown and Emmitt Smith).
• In 2006 He 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 first player to rush for 9,000 yards in his first 6 NFL seasons on December 24th, 2006.
• Became the first and only player in NFL history to rush for 1000 yards 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.
• Joins Emmitt Smith, Priest Holmes, Shaun Alexander, and Marshall Faulk as the only running backs to record consecutive seasons of 20 or more touchdowns

Collegiate

• In 2000 while at TCU, he rushed for a career high 2,158 yards, the fourth most ever in a single collegiate season.
• Holds the NCAA Division I-A record for most rushing yards in a game with 406.

Career stats

Year	Rushing					Receiving					Passing
	Att	Yds	Avg	TD		Cat	Yds	Avg	TD		Att	Comp	Yds	TD	Int
2001	339	1,236	3.6	10		59	367	6.2	0		-	-	-	-	-
2002	372	1,683	4.5	14		79	489	6.2	1		-	-	-	-	-
2003	313	1,645	5.3	13		100	725	7.3	4		1	1	21	1	0
2004	339	1,335	3.9	17		53	441	8.3	1		2	1	38	0	0
2005	339	1,462	4.3	18		51	370	7.3	2		4	3	47	3	0
2006	348	1,815	5.2	28		56	508	9.1	3		3	2	20	2	0
Total	2,050	9,176	4.5	100		392	2,900	7.3	11		10	7	126	6	0

Trivia

• He was named an all-pro three years in a row, in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
• Led the NFL in rushing touchdowns in 2004 with 17.
• Has been involved in more touchdown plays than any active NFL running back since 2001 (6 passing, 100 rushing, and 11 receiving).
• His 6 career touchdown passes ties him for second-most TD passes by a non-quarterback in NFL history (Keith Byars, Greg Pruitt and Marcus Allen). Walter Payton holds the record (8).
• As of December 24, 2006, he is tied for 6th among all-time NFL rushing touchdown career leaders at 100 (Marshall Faulk).
• As of December 24, 2006, he is tied for 11th among all-time all-purpose (rush/receive) NFL touchdown career leaders at 111 (with Lenny Moore).
• As of December 24, 2006, he is ranked 24th among all-time NFL rushing leaders with 9,288 rushing yards.
• A website was made in early January 2007, campaigning for Ladainian to not be on the cover of Madden NFL 08. SaveLTfromMadden.com

External links

• Comical project to get LaDainian's autograph
• LaDainian Tomlinson's NFL.com Player Page
• LaDainian Tomlinson at Chargers.com
• Tomlinson's personal website