By his third birthday, Tomlinson, like his father, was an avid follower of the Dallas Cowboys. He got his first taste of football playing Pop Warner football as a youngster. At University High School in Waco, Texas, he starred at linebacker as a sophomore and at fullback as a junior. However, he did not get to play tailback until his senior year. As a fullback, he rushed for 2,554 yards and 39 touchdowns. Because of Tomlinson's small size (195 pounds) and lack of experience, few college football recruiters showed interest in him. He chose to attend Texas Christian University because the school was near his hometown and because the football team's head coach, Pat Sullivan, treated Tomlinson with great deference.

Tomlinson attended college at TCU, where he starred at running back. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist as a senior, and completed his college career with 5,263 rushing yards, ranking sixth in NCAA Division I history. He currently holds the NCAA record for most yards in a single game, with 406 in a game against UTEP in 1999.

Tomlinson was selected in the 1st round of the NFL Draft in 2001 with the 5th overall pick. The Chargers had the 1st pick in the draft that year but anticipated that they would be unable to sign Michael Vick, who was perceived as the best player in the year's draft class. Therefore, they traded their number one pick to the Atlanta Falcons, for which they received the number five pick and other considerations. In this way, Tomlinson and Vick are forever linked as having been "traded" for each other, although the transaction was actually the result of traded draft picks and contract negotiations.

Tomlinson immediately became the starting running back with the Chargers, and has started every game since for the Chargers at that position. He has achieved considerable success in the NFL, rushing for over 1,000 yards in each of his four seasons. Other important career milestones include reaching his 50th touchdown in only his 4th season (60th game), receiving 100 passes and rushing for 1,000 yards in the same season (the first time this feat had ever been accomplished), setting the NFL record for most straight games with a rushing touchdown (18) and election to the Pro Bowl team in 2003 and 2005. Tomlinson's rushing touchdown streak also ties Lenny Moore's all-time record for consecutive games scoring a TD (18). Unfortunately, that streak would be snapped in the very next game in a 20-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, leaving him tied with Lenny Moore. He is widely recognized as one of the top running backs in the game today.

On October 16, 2005, in the Chargers' victory over the Oakland Raiders, LaDainian Tomlinson became the 7th player in NFL history to run, catch and throw for a touchdown in the same game.

--Wikipedia