| | By Stephen Tsai
Special to ESPN.com
When he is not attending classes or working on becoming college football's best running back or running his own website, Texas Christian University's LaDainian Tomlinson plugs in PlayStation's "Gamebreaker" video football game, selects "TCU" and goes with his favorite strategy.
"I give myself the ball almost every play," Tomlinson has said.
The yards pile up like, well, a video game -- 100, 200, 350 . . .
"I'm passing a little more now," he said, "but I'm still getting my share."
As good as he is on the video game, Tomlinson's life is more flattering than art.
|  | | TCU's LaDainian Tomlinson led the nation in rushing with 1,850 yards last season. |
Despite running on a touch-sensitive left ankle for the last third of the season, Tomlinson, a 5-foot-11, 220-pound senior, led the NCAA in rushing with 1,850 yards, an average of 168.1 yards per game.
Against Texas-El Paso, he ran for an NCAA-record 406 yards, including 287 in the second half. His yards were amassed so easily that TCU coach Dennis Franchione was set to pull him, not realizing how close he was to a record.
After the game, Franchione said, "We have been playing college football a hundred and something years, and nobody has ever been able to do what he just did. It was pretty amazing."
But perhaps Tomlinson's most amazing feat has been remaining humble. He
continually offers thanks to his mother, Lorene Chappell, and his offensive linemen, also known as the Big Uglies. At the end of last season, he treated that group to dinner.
"I know that tomorrow all of this could be gone," Tomlinson said.
Perhaps he is referring to the notebooks, posters and bumper stickers trumpeting his Heisman Trophy candidacy.
Or to the billboards with 10-foot-high pictures of his face.
Or to his website -- www.LTfor2000.com -- which offers this introduction:
"He loves his momma. He loves his Big Uglies. Oh, and he also loves to run."
"For me, I take it in stride," said Tomlinson, who often is compared to Emmitt Smith. "I don't really want to talk about it too much. I want to see how it's going. It feels good to be mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate. I'm always willing to do my best on the field."
But Tomlinson knows about the reality of the chase. He hears people knock TCU's schedule. He knows he has to stay healthy. He missed almost the entire game against Hawaii because of an ankle injury suffered on the second play. Two games later, he broke the NCAA's single-game rushing record.
So, Tomlinson has a plan -- 2,000 yards. Tomlinson figures if he does that, a trip to New York as one of the finalists for the Heisman Trophy ceremonies is in his future.
"That's the magic number," he said. "I don't know if I need to win the (national) rushing title, but I'm pretty sure 2,000 will be enough to get me a shot."
Stephen Tsai covers the WAC for the Honolulu Advertiser. | |
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 LaDainian Tomlinson brings it in on the option.
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