NO MORE MR. NICE GUY
--“They showed no class at all. Absolutely no class. And maybe that comes from their head coach.” — LaDainian Tomlinson during his post-game press conference after the San Diego Chargers lost to the New England Patriots, 24-21, on Sunday
“Did he really just say that?” Here at VIBE, we’ve heard Jay-Z and Nas, Jay-Z and Cam’Ron, even Jay-Z and Jim Jones go at each other on record for the first time and it usually attracts the same reaction around the office. Work stops getting done. Arguments get started. Somebody pulls up a list of lyrics Jay jacked from B.I.G. And the rest of the day is spent listening to two grown men fight for hip hop supremacy over computer speakers.
So I can imagine what the scene was like on Sunday afternoon in the sports department of any newspaper in the country when LaDainian “L.T.” Tomlinson took a direct shot at New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. In case your girl nagged you to come to the dinner table early and you missed it, here’s the abridged version of the final five minutes of Sunday’s Chargers/Patriots matchup: Pats trailed all game, their quarterback Tom Brady led ‘em downfield twice on their final two possesions to tie the game and then take the lead, the Chargers missed a potential game-tying field goal and then the Patriots danced at midfield. Same old, right? Well, okay, they also mimicked Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman and his “Lights Out” dance, which incensed NFL MVP Tomlinson, who then took out his frustrations at the post-game press conference. Got all that?
When it was all said and done, Tomlinson’s words shook the sports world. ‘Cause this wasn’t Terrell Owens bellyaching about not getting the ball more or even (gasp) Tiki Barber calling out his own coach after the game. It was L.T., one of the few poster boys for the big, bad NFL. The guy who still hands the ball off to the referee after scoring a touchdown. The guy who does interviews and sounds like one big politically-correct press release. The guy who got a stamp of approval from Jim Brown.
Some analysts blamed it on frustration, said he was speaking out because the Chargers took an L. Others pulled up film from the last Chargers/Patriots meeting, last October in Foxboro, where the Chargers destroyed the Pats, 41-17, and ended their 21-game home winning streak. And the rest flip-flopped between ignoring L.T.’s comments completely and struggling to find out why he’d comment on Belichick at all.
And then Tomlinson came out on Monday and repeated what he said, said he wouldn’t speak to Belichick if the Patriots won the Super Bowl and their staff coached the AFC (and Tomlinson) in the Pro Bowl, and then chuckled about the whole situation. And he gained a whole allegiance of new fans. Or at least one new one.
‘Cause deep down, I respect that it looks like Tomlinson is, as usual, two steps ahead of the game right now. There’s no denying he was the NFL’s best player this season. But what happens if the Chargers get back to the playoffs next year and can’t pull off a couple victories and get to the big one? Ask Peyton Manning. What happens if L.T. keeps stacking personal awards but can’t run his squad to the Super Bowl? Ask Dan Marino. And with all the parity in the NFL, what happens if the Chargers struggle to even get back to the playoffs and he’s left running for the sake of running? Ask Barry Sanders. After hearing his post-game conference, I get the feeling Tomlinson’s not worried about any of those scenarios. The league’s best player — both on and off the field — just proved he’s about more than just breaking records and tallying up stats. He’s not afraid to get angry and put the PC talk aside for the sake of winning. He may have lost this year, but he’s got a whole gang of material for his bulletin board this winter. Come next season, the rest of the NFL better be ready. And I know we're all wrapped up in the current playoff runs, but maybe, instead of asking if Peyton can beat the Pats or Rex Grossman can throw to more Bears than Saints this weekend, that’s what we should all be talking about now.
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Comments
1.
bananaskin says:
finally. thx.
01/17/2007 at 3:12 AM