Should Tomlinson be taking heat?
Let's hope Sunday's AFC Championship doesn't wind up as LaDainian Tomlinson's most indelible playoff moment. Let's hope this of Hall of Fame player can erase the image of him sitting with his parka hood up, visor on, sitting stoically on the bench. (Wouldn't it be easier to watch at night with it off?). Let's also let the next few weeks play out before judging on his inability to play Sunday. Because there are already questions.
Deion Sanders, speaking on the NFL Network, summed up what many teammates and fans are thinking - unfairly or not.
"You understand what T.O overcame to get back in the game, what Plaxico Burress goes through each week, and what Philip Rivers went through to play. LT told us he was close to 100%. The problem is, when you tell me that, I have expectations, and when you don't meet those expectations, you open yourself for us to try to guess. Now what's the problem? You're a big-time player. And big-time players must play in big time games.I know a lot of people will give LT a pass and say we don't know what happened. As a teammate, as fans looking on, it must be a surgery for him to get a pass on this one. I hope he comes up with something in the offseason, nothing severe, but a surgery for him to get a pass on this one."
Deion is right that expectations were key here. I waited to write this post until the morning to see if more information was available. And wouldn't you know, Tomlinson says he has a sprained MCL. This column indicates the injury was diagnosed last week, and that the "hyperextension" and "90% healthy" public talk were smokescreens. Either the Chargers violated injury reporting procedures or they are covering up now. The Kansas City Star and Charger Nation are wondering what happened.
We take acts of incredible toughness for granted in the NFL. We expect T.O. to return in weeks from a severe ankle sprain. Antonio Gates plays two games with a dislocated toe, and Philip Rivers plays with a sprained MCL and partially torn ACL, and we wonder why he didn't play better. It's difficult to criticize LaDainian Tomlinson for another disappointing January, but the image of his frozen Sunday will be tough to shake. Let's just hope he gets another chance to erase it.
Comments
Why should lt risk injury
to his knee, knowing that
with the team intact they
could compte next year also
Can't and want comment on
why qb rivers was not taken
out for he was not that ef-
fective
Posted by: carl ebron | January 22, 2008 09:50 AM
hudson- that was i who said i was 100% the next week- in case you don;t realize- a hyperextended knee is not a severe injury- the knee simply bends back too far - and thus hyper extends - a litte rest is all that needs - and you are set in a short period of time. LT was removed by the coach after team docotrs said he could not play. enough.
Posted by: scott l. | January 22, 2008 10:32 AM
i call b/s on anyone who thinks that what lt2 (preserve his career and get it next yr)did was ok
rivers has a complete tear of the acl which requires surgery to repair and a long recovery period
antonio gates has a severe dislocation of the big toe which will require surgery and rehab ,these are huge question marks leading into 08
what if lt2 never see's the title game again ???
some teams and great players never even get to sniff the title game, so when you get chance you don't squander the it thinking of the following yr
Posted by: B.LEE | January 22, 2008 01:02 PM
I have no problem with LT not playing if he felt that he couldn't go. The problem I have is the way he sat there on the bench with his helmet on and hoody up. Get off your ass and be the leader of the team and root them on. I know he's a classy guy...just ask him he'll tell you every time, but that was really pathetic!!
Posted by: JDG | January 22, 2008 01:37 PM
Everyone talks about how LT is this classy guy... From everything I've seen from his interviews to his lack of leadership that was shown this past weekend, I don't feel like this guy is as "classy" as he is talked about. You want to talk about classy, look at a guy like Rod Smith of the Broncos. His career is pretty much over and even when the Broncos playoff hopes were gone, this man was on the sideline coaching and mentoring younger players. LT is a selfish individual that doesn't practice what he preaches.
Posted by: crazyathlete21 | January 22, 2008 03:03 PM
I also think it's hilarious when people try to talk about their high school "playin" days when they tore their acl or hyper extended their finger in jv volleyball and try to relate to pro athletes... It's ridiculously funny to me.
Posted by: crazyathlete21 | January 22, 2008 03:06 PM
Crazy Athlete, an injury is an injury, no matter if you are a pro athlete or not.
Posted by: BUTCH | January 23, 2008 12:21 PM