- Born
- Birth nameLaDainian T. Tomlinson
- Nicknames
- L.T.
- The President
- Height1.78 m
- From day one, LaDainian Tomlinson showed that he had the talent to be a successful running back in the National Football League. Not only is he the San Diego Chargers' most valuable player, he is also considered by many to be the NFL's most valuable player, and is well on his way to a Hall of Fame career.
In many ways, Tomlinson's high school years on the football field at University High School in Waco, Texas were a sign of things to come. He earned Most Valuable Player for his district, and Offensive Player of the Year honors and even played against future Charger teammate Drew Brees in high school all-star games.
Tomlinson played college football for the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University, where he set several school records: 21 games with 100 yards rushing, 54 touchdowns and 6,337 all-purpose yards. Although he was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy following the 2000 season, Tomlinson finished fourth in the voting behind Chris Weinke, Josh Heuppel and high school all-star rival Drew Brees.
Although he was snubbed in the Heisman voting, Tomlinson was definitely not snubbed by the San Diego Chargers in the 2001 NFL draft. San Diego had the first pick in the draft, but decided to trade down to the fifth pick and get more picks, allowing the Atlanta Falcons to draft the highly athletic Michael Vick. It seemed like the hand of fate was at work as the Chargers picked Tomlinson and Brees for their first two picks.
So far, Tomlinson has accomplished a great deal in his brief NFL career. He has set team records with 1,683 yards rushing and 2,370 all-purpose yards and is the first player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards and catch 100 passes in the same season. It will be interesting to see how far he can go before his NFL career is over.- IMDb mini biography by: ChargerChris
- SpouseLaTorsha Oakley(March 21, 2003 - present) (2 children)
- Wears a tinted visor on his helmet
- His first career pass completion was a touchdown to quarterback Drew Brees, on a trick play against the Oakland Raiders on 28 September 2003.
- Tomlinson is the first person to catch 100 passes and rush for 1000 yards in the same season, which he did in 2003.
- In the 2006-2007 season, he broke numerous records, most impressively the record for most touchdowns by a single player in a season with 31. The record was previously held by greats Priest Holmes and Marshall Faulk, but most recently had been set by Shaun Alexander the year before, with 28. Not only the record, but he broke the record in the 14th out of 16 games in the regular season.
- Met wife LaTorsha at Texas Christian University (TCU), where they were both students.
- He wears uniform number 21 for the Chargers because it is between the uniform numbers of two running backs he idolized while growing up: Barry Sanders (20) and Emmitt Smith (22).
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