Chargers Tried to Lure LaDainian Tomlinson Out of Retirement
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Kent C. Horner/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — LaDainian Tomlinson is one of the greatest players to ever put on a Chargers uniform, but at 33-years-old, he is retired and has no plans to come back. Tomlinson says the team tried to persuade him to return to the team in 2013.
LT told Yahoo! Sports that new head coach Mike McCoy and new general manager Tom Telesco met with him at NFL scouting combine in February in hopes of trying to convince him to make a comeback.
“At first I thought they weren’t really serious, but they kept talking about it, and I realized it was real. They said, ‘You can come back and carry it 10 or 12 times a game. We’d like to have you here,'” Tomlinson told Yahoo! “…When I made the decision to to walk away, I wrestled with it long and hard, and I knew it was final. Once I retired, that was it. My mind is in a different place.”
Tomlinson is the Chargers’ all-time leading rusher, but left the team in 2009 after he saw his carries decrease. During his career, Tomlinson was one of the NFL’s best. In 11 NFL seasons, he ran for 13,684 yards (fifth all-time) while rushing for 145 touchdowns (second all-time), and scored 162 total touchdowns (third-all time).
Currently, the Chargers have running backs Ryan Mathews, Ronnie Brown and Danny Woodhead.
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