The Pro Football Hall of Fame game will be here before you know, and the 2016 class will be inducted. Brett Favre and Tony Dungy headline a class that doesn't include a running back.
The 2017 class will likely have one. His name will likely be LaDainian Tomlinson. The TCU legend is eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the very first time and he should make it in his first try.
"When guys like you mention it, that's when I think about it. I try not to think about it too much, because you know I figure we're still in June and we still got until December or January before I find out," says Tomlinson. "So, I just take it one day at a time. Now, I'm sure as it gets closer then I'll think about it a little bit more."
Why? If you played fantasy football during the 21st century's first decade, you know why. He was the best non-quarterback, offensive player in the game for a significant stretch. He knows he's going in, he just doesn't know when. But, when that day comes, he'll be thrilled.
"It's the highest honor an individual player can obtain, is going into the hall of fame," says Tomlinson. "But I'll tell you right now, no one wakes up in the morning as a kid and dreams of going to the hall of fame. It's such a, should I say, I wouldn't say impossible, but it's such a hard feat to obtain that it's really hard to imagine going into a hall of fame and really being remembered forever."
Here's a run down of Tomlinson's impressive numbers:
- 5th in rushing yards
- 7th in total yards from scrimmage
- 3rd in total touchdowns
- 4th in running back receptions
- 5X Pro Bowler
- 4X First-Team All-Pro
- 2X NFL rushing leader and the 2006 NFL MVP
That's just a list of his career achievements. He also holds a handful of NFL records:
- 31 - single season touchdown leader
- 31 - single season rushing touchdown leader
- Most games with 2+ rushing touchdowns with 38
- Most games with 3+ rushing touchdowns with 13
- Most consecutive games with a touchdown with 18
- Most consecutive games with multiple touchdowns with 8
- Most consecutive seasons with 1,500+ yards from scrimmage with 8
- Fastest player to gain 13,000, 14,000 and 15,000 yards from scrimmage
"Having some place that your grand kids, your great grand kids to go to one day and say 'hey that was my grandfather, that was my great grandfather,' and know the things that I've accomplished. That's pretty awesome."
