LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tramayne Tomlinson ( born June 23 , 1979 ) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League ( NFL ) for eleven seasons . He played the majority of his 11 - year career with the San Diego Chargers , who selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft . Tomlinson was selected to five Pro Bowl s , was an All - Pro six times , and won two rushing titles ( 2006 and 2007 ) . At the time of his retirement , he ranked fifth in career rushing yards ( 13 , 684 ) , seventh in all - purpose yards ( 18 , 456 ) , second in career rushing touchdowns ( 145 ) , and third in total touchdowns ( 162 ) . He currently serves as an analyst on NFL Network . Tomlinson played college football for Texas Christian University ( TCU ) , earned consensus All - American honors , and was recognized as the best college running back . He spent nine seasons with the Chargers . During the 2006 NFL season , he set several NFL touchdown scoring records and received numerous honors and awards including the NFL ' s Most Valuable Player Award and the Associated Press ' Offensive Player of the Year Award . In 2010 , he signed as a free agent with the New York Jets , playing for two seasons before retiring after 2011 . Tomlinson is often referred to by his initials , L . T . An effective passer on halfback option plays , Tomlinson threw seven touchdown passes and ranks second behind Walter Payton ( 8 ) for non - quarterback s . He was named to the NFL ' s 2000s All - Decade Team as one of the top running backs of the 2000s . Early years . Tomlinson was born to Loreane Chappelle and Oliver Tomlinson in Rosebud , Texas . His father left the family when Tomlinson was seven years old . Tomlinson did not see his father very often afterwards . His mother worked as a preacher . At age nine , Tomlinson joined the Pop Warner Little Scholars football program and scored a touchdown the first time he touched the ball . Tomlinson attended University High School in Waco , Texas , where he played basketball , baseball , and football . Tomlinson began his football career as a linebacker , but blossomed on the offensive side of the ball . Tomlinson amassed 2 , 554 yards and 39 touchdowns his senior year , earning honors as the District 25 - 4A Most Valuable Player , Super Centex Offensive Player of the Year . Tomlinson was an avid Dallas Cowboys and Miami Hurricanes fan during his youth . He idolized Walter Payton and admired Emmitt Smith , Jim Brown , Barry Sanders . College career . Tomlinson was recruited by many schools , but he was not considered one of the nation ' s top running backs coming out of high school . Many felt this was because Tomlinson did not play running back until his senior year and many top colleges had already made their recruiting choices by then . Thus , Tomlinson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Texas Christian University in Fort Worth , Texas , a university that was then a member of the Western Athletic Conference ( WAC ) , and to play for the TCU Horned Frogs football team from 1997 to 2000 . Prior to Tomlinson ' s arrival , TCU had appeared in only one bowl game in the previous 12 seasons ( and two in the previous 34 ) , and had recently been " downgraded " to a minor conference ( the WAC ) after the breakup of the Southwest Conference . During Tomlinson ' s freshman and sophomore years , he split time with Basil Mitchell . In the 1998 season he helped the Horned Frogs to their first bowl win in 41 years against the University of Southern California in the Sun Bowl . During his junior season in 1999 , he set an NCAA FBS record for most rushing yards in a single game with 406 against UTEP , a record that still stands today . 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 , and was recognized as a unanimous first - team All - American . He won the Doak Walker Award as the nation ' s best running back , and was a finalist for the Heisman , but came in fourth in the voting . He completed his college career with 5 , 263 rushing yards , ranking sixth in NCAA Division I history . The school retired his jersey ( No . 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 . Professional career . 2001 NFL Draft . The San Diego Chargers selected Tomlinson in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft , as the fifth overall pick . The Chargers possessed the draft ' s first selection , but traded the pick to the Atlanta Falcons , who drafted Michael Vick . In this way , many consider that Vick and Tomlinson were " traded " for each other , although the transaction was actually the result of traded draft picks . In exchange for San Diego ' s first draft pick , with which Atlanta selected Vick , the Chargers received Atlanta ' s # 5 pick ( used to draft Tomlinson ) , Atlanta ' s third - round ( 67th overall ) pick , which San Diego used to select Tay Cody , and Atlanta ' s second - round pick in 2002 , which San Diego would use to select Reche Caldwell . San Diego also received Atlanta ' s wide receiver Tim Dwight . The Chargers ' general manager , John Butler , made the deal contingent on San Diego receiving Dwight , to which Atlanta agreed . San Diego Chargers . Tomlinson immediately became the starting running back with the Chargers . He achieved immediate success in the NFL , rushing for over 1 , 200 yards and making over 50 receptions in each of his seven seasons . He also proved to be an effective passer , completing eight career passes , seven of them for touchdowns and maintaining a career passer rating of 154 . 4 . Tomlinson ran for 1 , 236 yards on a bad team in his rookie season . 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 NFL records by scoring 14 touchdowns in a span of 4 games , 16 touchdowns in span of 5 games , and 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 became the first to score at least 3 in four straight games set the following week . Also , he became the second to have three games of four or more TDs in one season ( Marshall Faulk became the first back in 2000 ) . 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 Dec . 3 , 2006 , Tomlinson became the first running back to rush for at least 1 , 236 yards in his first six NFL seasons ( he has now done so in his first seven years as well ) . On December 7 , he was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month . He scored 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 . With the first touchdown against Kansas City on December 17 , he surpassed the NFL record for most points in a season which had stood for 46 years . Tomlinson would finish his record breaking season with 2 , 323 yards from scrimmage and 31 touchdowns ( 28 rushing , 3 receiving ) . San Diego finished with a franchise - best 14 – 2 record , scoring a league - leading 492 points . Tomlinson went on to rush for 123 yards , catch 2 passes for 64 yards , and score 2 touchdowns in the Chargers divisional playoff loss to the New England Patriots . After the game , the usually mild - mannered Tomlinson blamed Patriots head coach Bill Belichick for some New England players celebrating on the Chargers midfield logo at Qualcomm Stadium by mocking Charger Shawne Merriman ' s sack dance . " They showed no class at all . Absolutely no class . And maybe that comes from the head coach , " said Tomlinson . On January 5 , 2007 , Tomlinson was awarded with the NFL Most Valuable Player Award for his record - breaking season . He was the runaway winner , receiving 44 of the 50 votes from a panel of nationwide sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the NFL . Former teammate Drew Brees , now a New Orleans Saint , received four votes and Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning received two votes . Tomlinson was also one of nine Chargers players selected for the 2007 Pro Bowl and also a starting running back of the American Football Conference . He was also recognized by the Associated Press as they awarded him their Offensive Player of the Year Award and was later named NBC Player of the Year . He was later named co - holder of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award alongside his aforementioned former teammate Drew Brees . On July 11 , 2007 , Tomlinson won the ESPY Awards for Male Athlete of the Year , Best Record - Breaking Performance and Best NFL Athlete , as well as the Hummer Like Nothing Else Award . Norv Turner , who was the Chargers offensive coordinator in Tomlinson ' s rookie season , replaced Marty Schottenheimer as Chargers head coach in 2007 . " Norv is the perfect fit for our team . He will know exactly what to do with our team , " Tomlinson said of the hiring . On December 2 , 2007 Tomlinson passed Walter Payton on the all time rushing touchdown list , with his 111th career rushing touchdown , against the Kansas City Chiefs . A day later , Tomlinson honored Payton by wearing his jersey during a press conference . Tomlinson led the league in rushing with a total of 1 , 474 rushing yards in 2007 , becoming the first player since Edgerrin James in 2000 , to win back - to - back rushing titles . During the year , Tomlinson became the fourth fastest player to reach 10 , 000 rushing yards in NFL history . Tomlinson ran for just 42 yards on 21 carries and caught 3 passes for 19 yards , but did score a touchdown in the Chargers wild - card playoff victory over the Tennessee Titans on January 6 , 2008 . He scored his touchdown on fourth and goal , leaping over the pile and reaching across the goal line to help secure the fourth quarter lead for the Chargers . Tomlinson sprained the medial collateral ligament ( MCL ) in his left knee and missed the second half of the Chargers divisional playoff win over the Indianapolis Colts on January 13 , 2008 . Tomlinson attempted to play through the injury , and had two carries for 5 yards before sitting out the rest of the 2008 AFC Championship . The Chargers lost to the New England Patriots , 21 – 12 . A lasting image from the game is Tomlinson sitting on the Chargers bench , and his helmet with a dark visor still over his head . Some Chargers fans and media — including Deion Sanders — questioned Tomlinson ' s toughness . Retired NFL great Jim Brown said Tomlinson " looks so comfortable sitting there . . . And then you have his quarterback out there giving everything he had , and it was a contrast between the two visually that when you looked at him and you looked at Philip Rivers , you said well , damn — we don ' t know how bad Tomlinson was hurt . " Terrell Davis , whose NFL career ended due to knee injuries , said , " . . . when you ' re talking about the knee , it just ain ' t the same . " Tomlinson did not participate in the Chargers ' offseason program in 2008 because of the injury . Much like the previous year , Tomlinson got off to a slow start after jamming his big toe against the Carolina Panthers the second week into the season . Tomlinson did not record a 100 - yard rushing performance until week four against the Oakland Raiders while having averaged just 3 . 3 yards per carry the first three weeks . Tomlinson averaged just 17 carries per game up to midseason and had only had four rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown . Though Tomlinson managed only two 100 - yard rushing performances on the season , he managed to top the 1 , 000 - yard rushing mark for the 8th consecutive time in his career which placed him third all - time alongside Thurman Thomas for consecutive 1 , 000 - yard rushing seasons behind Curtis Martin , Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith . He ended the seasons with a career - low 1 , 110 rushing yards on a career - low 292 attempts and 11 touchdowns thanks to a three - touchdown performance in the final game of the 2008 season . He also moved up the all - time list of touchdowns , getting his 126th rushing touchdown , which passed Marcus Allen ' s 123 and his 141st touchdown moved him closer to Marcus Allen ' s 145 total touchdowns in a career which is tied for third all - time with wide receiver Terrell Owens , behind Emmitt Smith ( 175 ) and Jerry Rice ( 208 ) . He also became the fifth player in NFL history to have 500 receptions and rush for more than 10 , 000 yards . Tomlinson partially tore his groin in the finale against Denver . He played the first half in the wild - card round against the Colts before re - injuring the groin and missing the Charger ' s divisional loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers . After a contentious off - season negotiation , Tomlinson and the Chargers came to an agreement on March 10 , 2009 to restructure his three - year contract so that he may remain a Charger . Tomlinson suffered an ankle injury on opening day of the 2009 season against Oakland and missed the next two games . The offensive line was impacted by injuries during the season , and Tomlinson ' s production declined with career lows in rushing attempts ( 223 ) and yards ( 730 ) . He scored 12 touchdowns , but his yards per carry was a 3 . 3 average . The Chargers were last in the league in yards per carry , also averaging 3 . 3 . The Chargers finished with a 13 – 3 record , winning 11 in a row , without a strong running game . They were upset in the second round by the wild - card New York Jets . Tomlinson was named to the NFL ' s 2000s All - Decade Team after leading the league with 12 , 490 rushing yards in the 2000s , 1 , 897 more than runner - up Edgerrin James . His 138 rushing touchdowns during the decade set an NFL record for any decade , and were 38 more than any other player in the 2000s . After much speculation about Tomlinson ' s future with the team , the Chargers released Tomlinson on February 22 , 2010 , after nine seasons with the team . Many experts attributed his decline to his age ( 30 ) and injuries . In his farewell news conference , Tomlinson said his production declined after the 2006 season when Schottenheimer departed . He felt that the team ' s focus on running dropped under Turner ; he later referred to Turner as a " passing coach " . " The San Diego Union - Tribune " , in an article titled " No doubt : Norv wants to run ball " , wrote that Tomlinson enjoyed success in his rookie season with Turner as offensive coordinator , as well as in Turner ' s first season as San Diego ' s head coach in 2007 . The article also cited Turner ' s history coaching 1 , 000 - yard rushers , including Emmitt Smith ' s three NFL rushing titles . Tomlinson lamented the team ' s release of fullback Lorenzo Neal after 2007 , but Neal was not a starter the next season with Baltimore . Tomlinson left the Chargers ranked eighth among NFL career rushing leaders with 12 , 490 yards . He also ranked second with 138 career rushing touchdowns , and third with 153 total touchdowns . He became the fastest player to reach 150 career touchdowns ( 137 games ) . Tomlinson expressed a desire to eventually retire as a Charger , but acknowledged a difficult relationship with Chargers general manager A . J . Smith . He said he " felt disrespected " by comments Smith made in the past . McClatchy Newspapers wrote in 2011 that Tomlinson was likely to have his number 21 retired by the Chargers once he retires . Bob Wick , the Chargers equipment manager , said he tried to keep No . 21 out of circulation , even though it had not been officially retired . New York Jets . For the first time in his career , Tomlinson entered the free - agent market , with many teams expressing interest . Despite the fact that Tomlinson still believed that he was a number one caliber running back , he would be forced to split time with another running back and after various contract negotiations , Tomlinson signed a two - year , $ 5 . 2 million contract with the New York Jets on March 14 , 2010 . Tomlinson chose to sign with New York because he felt more comfortable with the team ' s philosophy , personnel and he felt the team offered him the best chance to win a championship . < ref name = " Reflection on ' 09 , Future w / NY " > < / ref > Tomlinson recorded his first 100 - yard rushing game in nearly two years on October 3 , 2010 against the Buffalo Bills . In the game Tomlinson also passed Tony Dorsett for 7th on the all time rushing list . On October 31 , 2010 , Tomlinson reached another career milestone joining Walter Payton as the only players in NFL history to gain 13 , 000 yards rushing and 4 , 000 yards receiving . On December 6 , 2010 against the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football , LaDainian Tomlinson passed Eric Dickerson for 6th on the all time rushing list . On December 19 , 2010 LaDainian Tomlinson reached another milestone by passing Marcus Allen for 6th on the all time yards from scrimmage list . He finished the season leading the Jets in rushing with 914 yards , though it was widely thought he would be a complement to Shonn Greene , whom he outrushed by 148 yards . It was also Tomlinson ' s first year in his entire career that he did not record double - digit TDs , as he recorded a career low of 6 . He rushed for 82 yards on 16 attempts and ran for both Jets touchdowns in a 17 – 16 victory over the Colts in the . Against the Patriots in the , the Jets won 28 – 21 as Tomlinson rushed for 49 yards on 10 attempts and caught a touchdown . It was his 7th career postseason touchdown . In the against the Steelers , the Jets were down 24 – 10 in the fourth quarter when Tomlinson was unable to score a touchdown on a fourth - and - goal from the one - yard line . The Jets went on to lose 24 – 19 . Tomlinson had nine carries for 16 yards . Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum said after the season that he expected Tomlinson back for 2011 but " things could change . " With Greene designated as the starting running back for 2011 , Tomlinson began the season as a third - down back and caught six passes for 73 yards in the season opener . On September 25 , 2011 against the Oakland Raiders Tomlinson caught an 18 - yard touchdown pass for his 160th career touchdown , joining Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice as the only players to score 160 career touchdowns . On October 9 , 2011 against the New England Patriots Tomlinson became the 6th player in NFL history to reach 18 , 000 yards from scrimmage . On October 23 , 2011 against the San Diego Chargers Tomlinson became the 4th running back in NFL history to have 600 career receptions , joining Larry Centers , Marshall Faulk , and Keith Byars . On November 13 , 2011 against the New England Patriots Tomlinson passed Barry Sanders for 5th on the all time yards from scrimmage list . On December 18 , 2011 against the Philadelphia Eagles Tomlinson passed Keith Byars for 3rd on the all time career receptions list for running backs . On January 1 , 2012 against the Miami Dolphins Tomlinson passed Jerome Bettis for 5th on the all time rushing yards list . Retirement . On June 18 , 2012 , Tomlinson signed a ceremonial contract with the San Diego Chargers and then immediately announced his retirement . Chargers president Dean Spanos said Tomlinson ' s No . 21 would be retired by the Chargers in the future . At the time of his retirement , Tomlinson ranked fifth in NFL history in career rushing yards ( 13 , 684 ) , second in career rushing touchdowns ( 145 ) , and third in career total touchdowns ( 162 ) . Personal . Tomlinson was introduced to his future wife , LaTorsha Oakley , while the two were students at TCU . The couple married on March 21 , 2003 . After years of trying to conceive , LaTorsha became pregnant in 2009 . Tomlinson ' s son , Daylen , was born on July 8 , 2010 . In spite of Tomlinson ' s tenacity on the football field , he is described as quiet and humble . In 2007 LaDainian ' s father , Oliver Tomlinson , and brother - in - law Ronald McClain , died in an auto accident . Tomlinson , who had a " great relationship " with his father , was devastated by the tragedy . Tomlinson has been featured in several commercials for Nike , Campbell Soup and Vizio . As late as 2005 , he was wearing Nike Zoom Air football cleats ( size 13½ ) . In April 2007 , Tomlinson turned down a request to become the cover athlete and official spokesperson for EA Sports ' " Madden NFL 08 " video game . Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young was eventually selected for the cover . In August 2012 , Tomlinson joined the cast of NFL Network ' s Sunday morning show " First on the Field " as an analyst . In 2013 , he also became the host and judge to determine the " Top 5 Running backs " of each week .