Although I've stated my preference towait until after the draft before entertaining the thought of signing a soon-to-be 31-year-oldLaDainian Tomlinson, I'm not going to argue that it's a bad move if the Vikings end up signing him soon, which appears to be the case.
As I basically said for a short Page 2 piece in today's paper, LT has a special place in NFL history and has earned the benefit of thedoubt as to whether he's got anything left.
I listed what some of the great running backs have done at age 31, such as Walter Payton -- the greatest running back ever, btw --running for 1,551 yards and a 4.8 average in 1985. LT, who ranks No. 8 on the NFL's career rushing list,isof the same mold as theseven men whorankahead of him. Six of themplayed beyond their 31st birthday and five of them hadexceptional years at thatage or older.Only Eric Dickerson was pretty much shot before his 31st birthday, and that's because the guywas overworked during the first 6-7 years of his career (The dude had 1,465 carries in his first four years. An average of 366 a year!)
If I'm a Vikings' fan, I was pleased to read LT's comments in Judd Zulgad's story this morning. Not only did LTsay he wouldn't object to being Adrian Peterson's backup, he said he would relish the role of third-down back.
"I know I can catch the ball really well out of the backfield, can run routes and that's something that I've always looked for as I got older in my career," Tomlinson said.
Looking at the topeight playerson the NFL's career rushing list,one could say LT is the best receiver of the bunch. Granted,these are players who played in different eras and in differentsystems, but LT and Paytonprobablywereare the top two receivers.
LT has 530 career catches, which is the most among players in the top nine on the career rushing list. Payton had 492 career catches, but his 4,538 yards receiving is thebest among the top nine career runners. Payton and LT both have 15 career receiving touchdowns, the best among the top nine rushers.
No. 2 in catches among the top nine rushers is Emmitt Smith with515.