LaDainian Tomlinson

From day one, LaDainian Tomlinson showed that he had the talent to be a successful running back in the National Football League. Not only is he the San Diego Chargers' most valuable player, he is also considered by many to be the NFL's most valuable player, and is well on his way to a Hall of Fame career.

In many ways, Tomlinson's high school years on the football field at University High School in Waco, Texas were a sign of things to come. He earned Most Valuable Player for his district, and Offensive Player of the Year honors and even played against future Charger teammate Drew Brees in high school all-star games.

Tomlinson played college football for the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University, where he set several school records: 21 games with 100 yards rushing, 54 touchdowns and 6,337 all-purpose yards. Although he was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy following the 2000 season, Tomlinson finished fourth in the voting behind Chris Weinke, Josh Heuppel and high school all-star rival Drew Brees.

Although he was snubbed in the Heisman voting, Tomlinson was definitely not snubbed by the San Diego Chargers in the 2001 NFL draft. San Diego had the first pick in the draft, but decided to trade down to the fifth pick and get more picks, allowing the Atlanta Falcons to draft the highly athletic Michael Vick. It seemed like the hand of fate was at work as the Chargers picked Tomlinson and Brees for their first two picks.

So far, Tomlinson has accomplished a great deal in his brief NFL career. He has set team records with 1,683 yards rushing and 2,370 all-purpose yards and is the first player in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards and catch 100 passes in the same season. It will be interesting to see how far he can go before his NFL career is over.