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| ==High school== | ==High school== | ||
| Tomlinson attended University High School in ], and starred at halfback as a sophomore and at fullback as a junior, and in his first game as a starter he scored five touchdowns. However, he did not get to play ] until his senior year. As a fullback, he rushed for 2,554 yards and 39 touchdowns. Because of Tomlinson's small size (195 pounds) and lack of experience, few college football recruiters showed interest in him. He chose to attend ] because the school was near his hometown and because the football team's head coach, ], treated Tomlinson with great deference. | |||
| ==College career== | ==College career== | ||
Revision as of 04:11, 22 July 2006
LaDainian Tomlinson at NFL.com 
LaDainian Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979 in Rosebud, Texas) is an American football player who currently plays running back for the San Diego Chargers of the NFL. Tomlinson is a Texas Christian University alumnus. He is sometimes referred to as Lightning and Thunder, LT or LDT.
Early years
By his third birthday, Tomlinson, like his father, was an avid follower of the Dallas Cowboys. He got his first taste of football playing Pop Warner football as a youngster. Football was such an important part of LaDainian’s life that he slept with a pigskin every night. At age 13, Tomlinson's mother paid $750 for LaDainian to participate in the Emmitt Smith Football Camp being held at The University of North Texas. LaDainian mentions taking handoffs from Emmitt himself. The experience would influence LaDainian's dreams of becoming a future NFL player.
High school
Tomlinson attended University High School in Waco, Texas, and starred at halfback as a sophomore and at fullback as a junior, and in his first game as a starter he scored five touchdowns. However, he did not get to play tailback until his senior year. As a fullback, he rushed for 2,554 yards and 39 touchdowns. Because of Tomlinson's small size (195 pounds) and lack of experience, few college football recruiters showed interest in him. He chose to attend Texas Christian University because the school was near his hometown and because the football team's head coach, Pat Sullivan, treated Tomlinson with great deference.
College career
Tomlinson attended college at TCU, where he starred at running back, he wore number 5. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist as a senior, and completed his college career with 5,263 rushing yards, ranking sixth in NCAA Division I history. He still holds NCAA records for most rushing yards in a single game (406).
NFL Testing
- 4.54 in the 40-yard dash
- 41-inch vertical jump
- 430-pound bench press
- 610-pound squat
- 31-inch arm length
- 9 1/8-inch hands.
NFL career
Tomlinson was selected in the 1st round of the NFL Draft in 2001 with the 5th overall pick. The Chargers had the 1st pick in the draft that year but anticipated that they would be unable to sign Michael Vick, who was perceived as the best player in the year's draft class. Therefore, 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 forever 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 every game since for the Chargers at that position. He has achieved considerable success in the NFL, rushing for over 1,000 yards in each of his five seasons. Other important career milestones include reaching his 50th touchdown in only his 4th season (60th game), receiving 100 passes and rushing for 1,000 yards in the same season (the first time this feat had ever been accomplished), setting the NFL record for most straight games with a rushing touchdown (18) and election to the Pro Bowl team in 2003 and 2005. Tomlinson's rushing touchdown streak also ties Lenny Moore's all-time record for consecutive games scoring a TD (18). Unfortunately, that streak would be snapped in the very next game in a 20-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, leaving him tied with Lenny Moore. He is widely recognized as one of the top running backs, if not the top, in the game today
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. Later that season, he was voted into the Pro Bowl. He also broke a rib near the end of the 2005 season and was considerably less effective, a major reason why the Chargers missed the playoffs. He did continue to play at a reasonably high level, however, and finished the season with 1,462 rushing yards, 370 receiving yards, and a career high 20 touchdowns.
In 2005 he was nominated for the FedEx Ground Player of the Year Award, along with Tiki Barber, and Shaun Alexander, but he lost to Shaun Alexander.
Playing style
Tomlinson is hard to place in any category because of his versatility and speed. He has good hands, can slam into a defensive line for good yardage or take it to the outside and use his speed and arsenal of moves to outrun the secondary. As a smart runner, he knows when to use his moves and when to put it into fifth gear and take off. Is assisted by fullback Lorenzo Neal, who creates big holes for Tomlinson to run through.
Concerns
On the NFL Today show on CBS, commentator and former Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe said that the Chargers should put a carry count on Tomlinson like baseball managers do on pitchers. The reason for that is he could burn out early, before his time. Tomlinson has never carried the ball less than 313 times in a season. The same things happened to Shannon's former teammate Terrell Davis and former Houston Oilers and New Orleans running back Earl Campbell.
Facts
- In college, Tomlinson rushed for a career high and season high 2,158 yards in the year 2000. That puts him number four on the list for most rushing yards in a single season in college with the record holder being the great Barry Sanders with a mind blowing 2,628 yards in 1988.
- Tomlinson now plays with a black visor even on Sunday Night and Monday Night Football games.
- Tomlinson plays with a two colored mouth piece; light blue and yellow (the Chargers' colors).
- Has been called the best running back of all-time by his coach Marty Schottenhimer after winning the game in overtime versus the Washington Redskins' at FedEx Field where he broke tackles in the long, game-winning run.
- LaDainian is the San Diego Chargers' All-Time leading rusher.
- "LT" has also served as a protypical mentor and advisor to USC running back Reggie Bush who also wears number 5 in college.
- Tomlinson has a short cut scene in Madden NFL 06.
- Tomlinson's personal site is: www.ladainiantomlinson.com
- Tomlinson has an NFL record 80 touchdowns in his first five seasons.
- On the Sega ESPN NFL 2K5 video game, LaDainian was the highest rated running back on the game with a overall 97 out of 100.
External links
Career stats
| Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | G-S | No.-Yds. | Avg. | Long | TD | No.-Yds. | Avg. | Long | TD |
| 2001 | San Diego | 16-16 | 339-1,236 | 3.6 | 54 | 10 | 59-367 | 6.2 | 27 | 0 |
| 2002 | San Diego | 16-16 | 372-1,683 | 4.5 | 76 | 14 | 79-489 | 6.2 | 30 | 1 |
| 2003 | San Diego | 16-16 | 313-1,645 | 5.3 | 73t | 13 | 100-725 | 7.3 | 73t | 4 |
| 2004 | San Diego | 15-15 | 339-1,335 | 3.9 | 42 | 17 | 53-441 | 8.3 | 74t | 1 |
| 2005 | San Diego | 16-16 | 339-1,462 | 4.3 | 62 | 18 | 51-370 | 7.3 | 41 | 2 |
| Totals | 79-79 | 1,702-7,361 | 4.3 | 76 | 72 | 342-2,392 | 7.0 | 74t | 8 | |
| Postseason | 1-1 | 26-80 | 3.1 | 12 | 0 | 9-53 | 5.9 | 10 | 0 | |
| Year | Passing Att.-Comp. |
Yards | Pct. | TD | Int. | Long | Sacks- Lost |
Pass Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 1-1 | 21 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 21t | 0-0 | 158.3 |
| 2004 | 2-1 | 38 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 1-1 | 95.8 |
| 2005 | 4-3 | 47 | .750 | 3 | 0 | 26t | 0-0 | 153.1 |
| Totals | 7-5 | 106 | .714 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 1-1 | 153.3 |
2004 San Diego Chargers Media Guide
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