LaDainian Tomlinson represents what's good about sports today. He is the National Football League's preeminent superstar and he represents all that is good about football players and professional athletes both on and off the field.
In 2006, Tomlinson won the NFL's Most Valuable Player and Man of the Year Awards. He became only the second player to win both awards in the same season, joining Walter Payton, for whom the Man of the Year Award is named. Payton won both awards in 1977.
"LT" as he is known by his legion of fans around the world, had yet another stellar season on the field in 2007. Tomlinson became the first player since Edgerrin James in 1999 and 2000 to lead the NFL in rushing in back-to-back years. While his 1,474 yards were good enough to claim the second rushing title of his career, it was only LT's fourth-highest single-season total. Tomlinson's 15 rushing touchdowns were also a league best.
As the season drew to a close, the awards and recognition poured in for LT as usual. In addition to earning Pro Bowl honors for the fourth-consecutive season and fifth time in his career, Tomlinson was named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press and Sporting News, All-NFL by Pro Football Weekly and the Professional Football Writers of America and his teammates unanimously voted him Chargers Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year.
Tomlinson has a deep appreciation for the history of the NFL and over the last couple years, he's seen his name join many of his childhood heroes in the record books. In 2007, he surpassed the likes of Walter Payton and Jim Brown on the NFL's all-time rushing touchdowns list. LT enters 2008 ranked third in the category and needs only eight scores to tie Marcus Allen for second all-time. With 10,650 career rushing yards and 14,025 career scrimmage yards, Tomlinson ranks 18th and 21st, respectively, on the NFL's all-time lists and will likely pass several big names in 2008.
When LT passed the 1,000-yard mark in 2007, he joined Eric Dickerson (1983-89), Barry Sanders (1989-98) and Curtis Martin (1995-04) as only players in NFL history to begin careers with seven-or-more-consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. In surpassing 1,200 yards, he also joined Dickerson as the only second player in NFL history to rush for more than 1,200 yards in each of their first seven seasons in league. Both are streaks he hopes to keep alive in 2008.
Passing along values that were instilled at an early age by his mom, Loreane, Tomlinson and his wife, LaTorsha, have teamed up to become community leaders in both San Diego and their native Texas. Together, they oversee the Tomlinson Touching Lives Foundation. The foundation hosts events throughout the year, including youth football camps in San Diego and Texas, a golf tournament, a fishing trip for kids from The Monarch School for homeless and at-risk teens in San Diego, a Thanksgiving program in which they provide more than 2,100 San Diego families with complete holiday dinners and a Christmas program in which they give away more than 1,500 holiday gifts to the patients at San Diego's Children's Hospital and Health Center. At each Chargers' home game, LT hosts "The 21 Club," where he invites 21 kids from San Diego youth groups and nonprofit organizations to attend a game. After the game, LT invites the children down to the field where they get a one-on-one visit with their football hero.
Another important branch of the Touching Lives Foundation is the "School is Cool Scholarship Fund," which awards 30 annual scholarships to college-bound students based on academics, community involvement and volunteerism. Of the 30 students selected by Tomlinson each year, 15 are selected from San Diego and 15 are chosen from LT's alma mater, University High School in Waco, Texas. Proceeds from his annual golf tournament help support the scholarship fund. The Foundation has also sponsored students from MorseHigh School in San Diego to participate in a summer business program at Columbia University, where the students received entrepreneurial training.
In April 2008, Tomlinson will be honored at the Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night XIV in Phoenix, a nationally renowned charity event that raises money for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center and numerous other charities, Tomlinson will be honored alongside actor Kevin Costner, recording artist Reba McEntire and longtime music executive Clive Davis.
Just seven seasons into what appears to be a sure Hall of Fame career, Tomlinson has already left an indelible mark on the game. En route to his selection as the Chargers' first-ever Associated Press MVP in 2006, LT became the first player in team history to win the league's rushing title with 1,815 yards. He racked up 2,323 total yards from scrimmage, the sixth-highest single-season total in league history. He set a total of 13 new NFL records and added six new team records to his resume. He went to his third-straight and fourth-career Pro Bowl and led the Chargers to a franchise-record 14 wins and their second AFC West title in three years.
Along the way, Tomlinson helped the Bolts set a new team scoring record and he completely obliterated the NFL's single-season scoring record of 186 points, which had stood in place since the legendary Paul Hornung established it way back in 1960. Tomlinson also helped the Bolts shatter the team's rushing record as the 2006 unit racked up 2,578 yards, easily surpassing the previous team mark of 2,257 yards in 1990. It marked the fifth year in a row that the Bolts had rushed for more than 2,000 yards, tied with Denver for the NFL's longest active streak. That streak ended in 2007 for the Broncos, but the Chargers amassed 2,039 yards to extend the league's longest streak to six seasons (2002-07).
In 2005, Tomlinson tied Lenny Moore's NFL record by scoring a touchdown in 18 straight games and he set a new NFL record by scoring a rushing touchdown in 14 straight games during that stretch. After setting the rushing touchdowns mark on Sept. 18 in Denver, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio requested LT's game-worn jersey.
Also during the '05 season, LT had a chance to stand alongside two of the greats in Chargers history. In the season finale against Denver, LT scored his 20th touchdown of the season, breaking Chuck Muncies then 24-year-old team record for the most touchdowns in a season, a mark which Muncie established way back in 1981. Coincidentally, Muncie was at the game that day and afterward greeted LT on the sidelines to congratulate the team's new touchdown king. Tomlinson also shared the spotlight that day with another Charger great as he moved past Lance Alworth to become the team's all-time leader in career yards from scrimmage. Though Alworth wasn't at the game to congratulate LT, the two met earlier in the season when Alworth had his No. 19 jersey retired by the club.
Jersey retirement is a subject LT was familiar with as he also had a jersey retired in 2005. During the team's November bye week, Tomlinson returned to his alma mater, TCU, where he was honored with "LT Day" at the school's Amon Carter Stadium. At halftime of the Horned Frogs' game against UNLV, a ceremony was held at midfield during which LT was joined by nearly 50 former teammates. His No. 5 Horned Frogs jersey was honored so that no other player will ever be allowed to wear that number without Tomlinson's approval. During the ceremony, a highlight video was shown and Tomlinson was serenaded by the capacity crowd with an "LT" chant.
While 2006 was filled with career highlights for LT, 2007 began with disappointment for the Chargers superstar. On a Friday afternoon in late February, a life-changing incident took place when LT's father, Oliver, and his older brother, Ronald McClain, were tragically killed in a single-car accident near Waco, Texas.
Away from football, Tomlinson enjoys quiet time at home. He and LaTorsha own a home in the San Diego suburb of Poway where they live with their three dogs: Coco, Fendi and Sweetness. Coco is a teacup poodle; Fendi is a miniature Yorkshire terrier, and Sweetness is a pit bull named after Walter Payton. A superstar's house wouldn't be complete without a sports memorabilia room and LT's includes autographed helmets from some of his favorite NFL players, including Payton, Jim Brown and Barry Sanders.
When wildfires ravaged San Diego in October 2007 for the second time in five years, many of the Chargers' players and staff were affected, but none perhaps as perilously close as Tomlinson. He and LaTorsha were forced to flee their home in the middle of the night with little more than the clothes on their backs as flames roared toward their home. Thankfully though, firefighters waged a heroic battle, stopping the fire at the Tomlinson's back fence, preserving the home and all of its contents, including LT's memorabilia collection.
In December, long after the fires were put out, Tomlinson hosted an event to support the first responders and volunteers who helped fight the fires. He also donated 300 flat-screen televisions to families that lost their homes in the fires.
Tomlinson enjoys traveling and going to the movies for his weekly date nights with LaTorsha. Past travels have included trips to New York, Hawaii, Jamaica, Mexico and the Bahamas.
LT's individual hobbies include playing basketball and golf. Like many of his teammates, Tomlinson also has an interest in classic cars and owns a restored 1964 cherry-red Chevy Impala, complete with a hydraulic lift kit.
LaDainian Tomlinson, NFL MVP and New York Jets Running back, is available through IMG Speakers bureau for speaking engagements. LaDainian Tomlinson is also available for corporate hospitality appearances, meet and greets, and much more. Please contact IMG Speakers at 212-774-6735 or speakers@imgworld.com for more information on booking LaDainian Tomlinson.
