Starter: LaDainian Tomlinson and His Man Tears

Who Is He? LaDainian Tomlinson is the formerly awesome former San Diego Chargers running back. I say formerly awesome because in recent seasons, LT seems to have slowed down a bit, undoubtedly a consequence of playing such a demanding position at such a high level for most of his career. Running behind his Darth Vader mask, LT has racked up 12,490 yards (8th all-time), 138 rushing touchdowns (2nd), and 153 total TDs (3rd). Needless to say, he’s been pretty good. He’s also looked pretty damn fly in the Chargers’ powder blue throwback jerseys, but really, those jerseys make everyone look good.

Why Do We Like Him? Despite his tendency to disappear in big games (see: any Chargers playoff game), I’m making him a starter for those career numbers, the Darth Vader mask, the powder blue unis, and man tears. On Monday, LT was released from the Chargers, the only team he’s played for during his nine-year career, and last night he held a press conference that seemed to be part farewell to Chargers fans and part announcement of his availability to other teams. I believe he’ll get a shot on another team, but I’m not sure he’ll be as effective as he seems to think he’ll be. However, that’s not why I’m writing about him.

The real reason: man tears of course! There’s no way we here at There’s No “I” in Blog would let any man tears go by unnoticed. During his press conference, LT broke down and let the waterworks flow, and he seemed genuinely upset to be leaving San Diego. You can watch part of LT’s press conference here. Finally, I’m making him a starter because of this awesome commercial directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that’s just an amazing one-minute exercise in storytelling.