LaDainian Tomlinson puts his foot in his mouth (again)

Most professional athletes don’t know what to do once their athletic careers is over.

It makes sense. They’ve been playing sports since a very young age, probably as long as they can remember, and their entire life was built around it. Then, suddenly, POOF! The career is gone, the ability to play is gone, and you have to go figure out how to live the second half of your life.

Some figure it out. Many end up in the media, as LaDainian Tomlinson has, because it’s one place where they can continue to use the knowledge built up from playing their entire life. Some are better than other once they get there.

For Tomlinson, he has regularly made headlines by calling out the San Diego Chargers for mistakes they made during and after his MVP season in 2006.

Seven months ago, LT said...

I would’ve won a Super Bowl if Marty hadn’t left after the ’06 year. I would say that. Because I think we were primed and ready. All we needed to do was just keep that team together at the time. And I think we were going to win it.

Source

That’s fine. It’s a fine opinion to have. Most everyone agrees that the Chargers should’ve found a way to keep Schotteheimer. Hindsight is 20-20, after all.

However, today, Tomlinson went a step further.

"If Drew had been our quarterback [in 2006], we would have won the Super Bowl," said Tomlinson, a lock for the Hall of Fame "There were a lot of circumstances that were in play -- obviously, Drew's injury right at the end of the [2005] season and the front office wasn't willing to make the [financial] commitment to keep him."

...

"I remember Marty talked to the core team leaders about who we might want as a quarterback because the front office wasn't convinced at that time Drew was a franchise guy," Tomlinson said. "I wanted to stick with Drew and build a better team around us. If they were going to draft a QB, I remember I wanted Ben. And when Philip ended being the guy, I saw why they liked him. ... But Drew was just coming into his own and he had very unique leadership abilities that we all saw on that team."

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So, let me get this straight....

The Chargers would’ve won the Super Bowl in 2006 if their QB was Drew Brees? And Tomlinson wanted Roethlisberger over Rivers?

And then, had the team not fired Marty Schottenheimer, the team would’ve won (presumably) even more Super Bowls?

For a guy that doesn’t own a Super Bowl ring, LaDainian Tomlinson sure knows a lot about what it takes to win a Super Bowl and the pitfalls that led the Chargers to not winning them.

Either that or he loves throwing former coworkers and employees under the bus to avoid blame on himself.