Conference Championship Interview Series: San Diego Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson
by 
David Kindervater on January 19th, 2008
Blogging the National Football League, Blogging the NFL
I first met LaDainian Tomlinson when he was in college at Texas Christian University. The date was Saturday, September 16, 2000. I was a rookie reporter and he was a hotshot tailback and Heisman Trophy candidate. The national media frenzy that surrounded him that season was overwhelming. He had his own Web site — LTfor2000.com (don’t bother, it doesn’t work anymore). Area billboards and even vehicles hyped his potential. I still have the Heisman promo material given to me by his media relations peeps — “He loves his momma. He loves his ‘big uglies’ (that’s his offensive line). And he loves to run, too.” Swag was free-flowing.
So I flew to Ft. Worth, TX specifically to interview LT and take-in one of his games, this day against Northwestern University. I like to bring up an “I knew him when …” every now and then — not in a lame attempt to impress anyone, but more for my own amusement. But yeah, I knew him when he was in college, before super-stardom had set-in. (Ironically, I have a similar history with his backup in San Diego, Michael Turner, but I’ll save that for another time.)
Anyway, LT didn’t win the Heisman, but eight years later, super-stardom has most definitely and deservedly set-in. What I saw then is what I continue to see today. LT was as good a football player as I had ever seen and he was as genuine a person as I had ever met. I’m going to borrow a paragraph from LT’s official bio at Chargers.com because it perfectly sums up what LaDainian is all about:
“LaDainian Tomlinson represents what’s good about sports today. To steal a line from one of his best friends and his backfield mate, Lorenzo Neal, Tomlinson is ‘Superman without the cape.’ 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.”
Yet, seven years into his National Football League career, LaDainian Tomlinson has no Super Bowl championship to show for all his hard work. He’s been a league MVP. Man-of-the-Year. All-time NFL record-breaker. But no ring. Even at the young age of 28, it seems it’s all he has left to accomplish. But on the eve of the AFC Championship game against the (still) undefeated New England Patriots, he’s closer than he’s ever been.
The Patriots put a halt to his plans last year. And danced on his home field afterwards. During a national conference call this week, fresh out of practice and on his way to the ongoing rehab of a bruised knee, he told me he holds no grudges and doesn’t let that game bother him anymore. “No, we let that go,” LT said sincerely. “We’ve got another opportunity, so we can’t dwell on the past. We’ve got to think about the present now.”
That present is as close to a Super Bowl as he’s ever been, but he responsibly approaches it with cautious optimism. “It’s very exciting,” he said, his voice now upbeat with enthusiasm. “You know, I can’t tell you how excited I am. Ever since I was a kid I’ve dreamed about playing in the Super Bowl and having the chance to win the championship. It’s a great feeling, but you know, we’ve got a tough task ahead of us. We’re playing, perhaps, the greatest team to ever play football, so we’ve got a heck of a task. And we just hope we don’t get embarrassed.”
Embarrassed? Despite being two touchdown underdogs, the red-hot Chargers (winners of eight straight) stand as good a chance as anyone of upsetting New England. Just read my interview with Tom Brady. He’s aware of how good San Diego is. Still, it sounded as though LT knew something no one else did. I could almost see him grinning through the phone line. But he wasn’t about to give the Patriots any bulletin board material. They thrive on it. He was playing the same game Tom Brady was playing. Woo the opposition into complacency with gobs of praise. Or something like that. The truly great players are smart that way. That’s part of what makes them great.
The San Diego Chargers were anything but a great football team to start this season 1-4. Still, LT believed they could get this far, to the AFC Championship game. “I really thought, even when we were 1‑4, that we were one of the better teams in the AFC,” he admitted. “I always felt like on any given day, we could play with anybody and have a chance to win any game.”
He’ll get that chance against the Patriots this weekend. And if the Chargers win, it will be not only the biggest victory of his outstanding career, but a dream come true ticket to play in the Super Bowl.
This was my fourth and final Conference Championship interview. Also check out Tom Brady (Patriots), Ryan Grant (Packers) and Amani Toomer (Giants).
Tags: LaDainian-Tomlinson, LT, San Diego Chargers| 2.5 |
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POSTED IN: Interviews, San Diego Chargers
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