Being one of the 25 running backs enshrined in Canton for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, LaDainian Tomlinson’s legacy is immortalized in the sport. But that doesn’t mean he is completely satisfied with his career. Notably missing from his resume is the ultimate goal for every player—a Super Bowl championship. He played in the AFC Championship Game twice in his career. Once with the San Diego Chargers in the 2007 season with a loss to the New England Patriots, and once with the New York Jets against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2010 season.
It would appear that the loss to the Steelers was particularly painful for Tomlinson as it was the penultimate season of his career and his last real chance at a Super Bowl. On Saturday’s episode of The Pivot Podcast, Ryan Clark asked Tomlinson about his feeling that his career was “close but no cigar,” and whether the lack of a championship still gets to him.
“It sticks with me a lot because I knew that I had the teams to do it,” Tomlinson said. “Now I realize you have to be a little lucky and things gotta go your way, and that’s all great…Even with the Jets, AFC Championship Game [against] Pittsburgh. Goal line, them boys stop us four straight. We’re right there. Came back, we all the way back, to have put ourselves in that position to not win it. So it is tough to live with.”
That game was 24-3 at halftime in favor of the Steelers, but the Jets put up 16 unanswered points in the second half to bring it to a one-score game. As Tomlinson said, they had an opportunity earlier in the game to score another touchdown which could have resulted in a win for them, but the Steelers’ defense held them on four straight plays from within the two-yard line to create a turnover on downs. The fourth down play was a Tomlinson run up the middle, stuffed by Brett Keisel and Casey Hampton for no gain.
Here are the final two plays of that goal line drive.
That turnover on downs actually led to more drama as Ben Roethlisberger fumbled the ball in the end zone and covered it for a safety. The Jets would score following that safety to bring it within one score. So it isn’t a given that the Jets would have won if they had punched it in on that goal line attempt, but they would’ve had a better chance.
Still, this is remembered by Tomlinson as a devastating loss and one of the big what-ifs of his career. Plenty of all-time great players never end up appearing in or winning a Super Bowl championship. Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt are two great examples of potential Hall of Famers that have never appeared in a Super Bowl. Watt hasn’t even won a playoff game.
