Posted on 01/16/2007 12:23:50 AM PST by Big Guy and Rusty 99
National Football League rushing champion LaDainian Tomlinson remained upset by New England's post-game victory celebration after ousting San Diego from the playoffs. The Patriots, seeking their fourth Super Bowl title in the past six years, edged the Chargers 24-21 with help from four San Diego turnovers and a missed 54-yard field goal on the final play of an emotional game.
Several New England players hurled their helmets into the air and danced on the middle of the field in celebration, incurring a meaningless 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct and the wrath of San Diego star rusher Tomlinson.
"I would never, ever react in that way," Tomlinson said. "I'm a very classy person and I would not have reacted like that. I was very upset."
Tomlinson refused to shake hands with several of the Patriots after the game and was restrained when rushing toward several New England players after the game after a mocking imitation of Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman's victory dance.
"When you go to the middle of our field and you start doing the dance that Shawne Merriman is known for, that's disrespectful. It showed no class at all and maybe that comes from their coach," Tomlinson said.
"I wasn't going to go do anything, just tell the guys not to disrespect us on our own field. When you start to further disrespect us, that's just not how you react."
New England coach Bill Belichick, 13-2 in the playoffs entering Sunday's semi-final at Indianapolis, has made the Patriots into a dynasty but it was Pittsburgh which won last season's Super Bowl crown.
Tomlinson, who ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns in a losing cause, had little sympathy.
"Just disappointment, that's the initial thought," Tomlinson said. "When you are a three-time Super Bowl champion I wouldn't think you would need to act that way. That was the way they reacted to it. We can't do anything about it."
Tomlinson set a one-season NFL record with 31 touchdowns and won the NFL rushing crown with 1,815 yards. But he will not play for a championship.
"We're going to be back," Tomlinson vowed. "This was disappointing but I believe next season we will be one of the teams competing for that Super Bowl spot."
sore winner bump
bump for the NFL ping
Sorry but America doesn't like Losers.
Sorry but America doesn't like Losers.
If you don't like how it feels to lose, WIN!
They're going to have a long off season if they can't get over this.
My wife is just getting into football, I explained to her that next week there will be new stories and no one will care about this. No one but the classy LT, that is.
LT probably thought that playing next year was preferable to getting turned into a steaming pile of guts @ the fifty yard line and thus restrained himself from attacking.
Not likely ... Tomlinson is in great shape and a tremendous athlete ... if one Patriot (or several) had tried to put a finger on LT the Patriots would have needed a police escort to the airport. That is, what was left of them after the Chargers and the fans attending the game kicked their butts.
Said one of the Patriots: "LT completely misread the situation. We weren't celebrating the win. We were celebrating the impending whining meltdown of LT. We played our hearts out the whole season for this one special moment."
;O)
Well rested, healthier, home field advantage, no Pats fans need apply for game tickets, bigger, faster, stronger, All Star roster, this years version of the greatest team of all time.
All the Pats had was experience in pressure cooker games, a quarterback who did not make this years Pro Bowl and the advantage in coaching.
Why didn't LT inform Merrimen that it wasn't classy to publicly state he (Merrimen) was going to punch Brady in the mouth and led the chant "Brady sucks" at the victory rally leading up to the game.
Was it classy for the no show 'roid user to do his ridiculous dance when he knocked Brady to the ground? Classy for Charger players to trash talk Caldwell during the week of the game? Classy to verbally taunt the Pats with Lights Out after they took a 21-13 lead? A lecture on what's classy by a steroid cheating freak who shows up on TV wearing a muscle shirt, showing off his gang tattoos, predicting at halftime of the Wild Card game that the Pats would lose to the Jets...and the Chargers DID celebrate on the Pats field when they crushed the Pats 41-17.
The Chargers should look inward to the cause of this defeat and learn from it. They have many talented players and it would be a shame if the window of opportunity closes on them before free agency and salary cap issues break up the team. Show some class, move on and make a stronger run in the playoffs next year.
The chargers should have won. They had every advantage. they started out with the momentum. Their coach made mistakes and team got sloppy, they're just looking to blame.
Someone pick up LT's binkie---I think he dropped it on the floor.
Quality post, BB.
and someone tell him to get a real first name.
Yet another young man who cannot control his temper, and who responds violently to perceived "disrespect".
This young man needs to learn self-control. Inevitably, he'll be "disrespected" by someone, and either he, or the person he believes "dissed" him, will attempt to gain the "respect" they think they deserve, by pulling a gun.
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