Live-Blogging LaDainian Tomlinson Retirement Press Conference

LaDainian Tomlinson is officially retired after a press conference at Chargers Park earlier today. Chargers.com streamed (most of) the event and I live-blogged while watching. My notes are below.

• 10:45 The stream has begun 15 minutes early....and it's a stream of NFL Network. I'm not complaining. That commercial with Ray Lewis yelling "We'll see who we are in a second" at his teammates is fantastic. He's going to be a fantastic coach one day.
• 10:47 Back from commercial. We get to watch Hard Knocks: Dallas Cowboys. This has to be at least four years old. Still great.
• 10:49 Almost forgot that they cover the cheerleaders training camp as well. The Cowboys cheerleaders are taking etiquette lessons. "Don't ever wear your thong with your outfit."
• 10:50 Damn, girls scream a lot.
• 10:54 Has Dave Campo ever not liked a player?
• 10:55 This coaching staff looks ancient. Every guy has gray hair or no hair.
• 10:56 Chad Hutchinson sighting! First player that I recognized. I guess that means this is pre-Tony Romo?
• 10:57 "Hutchinson to Antonio Bryant is a thing of beauty." Sure, in a scrimmage.
• 10:59 Mike Zimmer was their Defensive Coordinator? How did I not know that?
• 11:00 Zimmer's talking about back when they used to win Super Bowls. Was he there for that long? Must've been.
• 11:00 Live shot of the Tomlinson press conference. Pretty sure I just saw Philip Rivers take his seat.
• 11:03 Timely technical difficulties. Of course.
• 11:07 We're back. Spanos is unofficially retiring #21 and saying that it will be officially retired later. "Nobody in this organization can imagine another player wearing it."

• 11:08 LT highlight video made by the Chargers. Produced by NFL Films. Very nice.
• 11:10 I kind of miss the dark helmet, dark jersey and dark pants look. It was menacing.
• 11:11 LT was the seventh player to run, catch and pass for a TD in the same game? SEVENTH?!? I'm amazed six other guys did that.
• 11:13 Was that Scott Kaplan doing the narration at the end of the video? Sounded like him.
• 11:13 LT signs his one-day contract. There's not a snazzier dresser alive. Nice suit, nice bowtie, nice glasses. Spanos jokes "I didn't even check to see how much it was for. It doesn't matter. It's worth it."
• 11:15 Photographers are gonna be mad about those glasses he's wearing. So much glare.
• 11:17 Shoutouts to Ollie Wilson and Clarence Shelmon. LT's relationship with Shelmon was a big reason he got that Offensive Coordinator position. It's obvious they were close.
• 11:18 Tomlinson just forgot about Doug Flutie (while thanking his Quarterbacks) as they showed a video of Flutie handing him the ball. Awkward.
• 11:20 LT thanking his wife and mom. Couple of tough ladies, right there.
• 11:21 Tomlinson is quoting the Seau "I'm graduating today" retirement presser. So, he'll definitely be playing for the Patriots in a few months.
• 11:22 No tears! Shocked.
• 11:23 Tomlinson says he won't unretire and play in the NFL after this.
• 11:23 COMMERCIALS! NFL Network is not crazy about the Q&A segment, I take it. Let's see what happens when they come back from commercials.
• 11:26 Aaaaand we're back at the press conference. They're asking him about when he left for the Jets and the bad things he said about the Chargers. He's saying that the media misunderstood or misconstrued what he said.
• 11:28 Marty Caswell asks LT about the Raiders and we, the fans, finally get to see some of the pride and ego that he's hidden his entire career. That was fun.
• 11:30 Someone just got LT to admit that he's not the player that he once was. He says it's more mental than physical.
• 11:31 "I've always watched football and I'm going to continue to love the sport." He's a fan and a player. That's rare.
• 11:32 His kid crawled over and started tugging at his leg, so now he's a part of the presser.
• 11:34 Most special things from LT's time in San Diego? "We beat the Raiders like 7 or 8 times straight."
• 11:35 Standard answer about what he'd miss most. "The locker room. The camaraderie." Does anyone say anything else when asked that at their retirement press conference?
• 11:36 Oh, that was Eric Weddle that asked that question. Cool. LT advised him to watch tons of film. "It's the only way you can break yourself down. Other teams are scouting you. You should scout yourself."
• 11:38 Out of questions. Presser is over.