Sad Day in Charger Land
You knew it was going to happen, the last second ticking off of the clock in one of the most embarrassing playoff loses in Charger history. The NY Jets running around cheering, knowing that they would be going to Indianapolis. You saw on the sidelines, the face of the San Diego Chargers for the past decade, walking off of the field, #21 wearing Charger Blue for the final time.
LT may mean Lawrence Taylor to many, but in San Diego, it means LaDanian Tomlinson. It was not like he was ego driven, it was not like he was one of those guys that just came to play the game, he was a class act, he was a professional on the field and off the field.
Since it is a game of numbers and a business, everyone in San Diego knew that it was over. He did the right thing in restructuring his contract last year to give it one more go. AJ Smith acted like a complete jackass last year before the negotiations. It almost got to the point that Charger fan would have wanted to jam a rocket up AJ’s sphincter and sent his ass out of town at how horrifically he treated the icon of the Chargers, but the deal got done and LT would be a Charger once again, for at least one more year.
It is sad to see him go, much like it was sad to see Seau go, much like it was sad to see Rodney Harrison go, it was a painful day hearing LT was walking out the door. The writing was on the wall, not just last year, but the year they let go of possibly the greatest fullback in Charger history. When they let Lorenzo Neal go, they basically stopped Tomlinson from being the greatest running back in the history of the NFL. You get rid of the primary reason that LT got the NFL single season record in TD’s and you replace his battering ram in front of him with a rookie that could not block a wet napkin and you basically killed his career. Who got rid of Lorenzo Neal? AJ Smith.
AJ Smith is the reason that once a team emerges in Los Angeles, that my allegiance will turn. AJ Smith is the reason that the fans are frustrated with Charger football. AJ Smith has amassed great talent, but AJ Smith is an egomaniac that cannot seem to understand that sometimes you have to concede things to make people happy. Sometimes you need to bite your big fat lip and keep a competent coach on the sidelines that knows how to coach as opposed to hiring a coach that you can basically control. This team should have won at least one super bowl a couple of years ago when LT was MVP, but this team should have been in this years super bowl.
Not only does LT walk away from being a Charger this week, but I bide my time as well. Eventually a team will grace Los Angeles, be it the LA Jaguars, or the LA Vikings, or even the LA Bills, they already have one fan waiting. AJ Smith needs to understand that the fans follow the team, they follow their favorites, they do not follow an egomaniacal General Manager.
With that being said….
Look back on 2006 and his 31 TD’s:
