Los Angeles Chargers all-time Mount Rushmore

RB LaDainian Tomlinson

You can count on four fingers the numbers of running backs to be named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player this century. Go back to 2000 and then Los Angeles Rams standout Marshall Faulk earned those honors. Five years later, it was Seattle’s Shaun Alexander, while the most recent example was Minnesota Vikings workhorse Adrian Peterson.

In 2006, there was San Diego Chargers superstar LaDainian Tomlinson, who had quite the year leading Marty Schottenheimer’s team to the league’s best record at 14-2. He would finish with an NFL-best 1,815 rushing yards and set league records for total touchdowns (31) and points scored. During his nine-year stay with the franchise, he totaled an amazing 16,445 yards from scrimmage and reached the end zone 153 times in 141 regular-season outings.

He would play his final two seasons with the New York Jets and all told, he ranks seventh on the all-time rushing list. Only fellow Hall of Famers Jerry Rice (208) and Emmitt Smith (175) have scored more TDs than Tomlinson (162).

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In each of his nine seasons with the Chargers, he never scored fewer than 10 touchdowns, and his 530 receptions during his stay in San Diego (100 in 2003) are certainly notable as well.