L.T. wins AP Offensive Player award By BARRY WILNER, AP Football Writer
Fri Jan 5, 4:57 PM ET
NEW YORK - With a bushel full of records and an MVP award already in his 2006 collection, LaDainian Tomlinson added The Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year to his resume Friday.
Could there have been any doubt after L.T. made everything look EZ in sparking the San Diego Chargers to the NFL's best record (14-2)?
Tomlinson, voted Most Valuable Player on Thursday, broke Shaun Alexander's league record for touchdowns by scoring 31 (28 rushing) and also threw for two scores. The brilliant running back not only surpassed the mark Seattle's Alexander established last year in also winning the MVP-offensive player double, but Tomlinson surpassed Paul Hornung's 46-year-old record for points by getting 186.
And L.T. rushed for a league-high 1,815 yards on 348 carries, had 56 receptions for 508 yards and was 2-for-3 as a passer, both completions for scores, giving him six in his six-year career, tying him for second among non-quarterbacks.
"There's so much work that you put in during the offseason, putting your body through some rigorous training and pushing yourself to the max," Tomlinson said of the honors. "Then, when something like this happens, it makes it all worth it. You feel like everything I do in the offseason, everything I put my body through in training camp and up to this point, it's worth it. It pays off."
It paid off with 38 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league. Next was Tomlinson's former quarterback with the Chargers, the Saints' Drew Brees with eight, followed by Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning with three and St. Louis RB Steven Jackson with one.
Brees also was second and Manning third in the MVP balloting.
Tomlinson rushed for at least 100 yards 10 times this season, including nine in a row, and scored two or more TDs in 10 games. The highlights were four-touchdown games against San Francisco in a 48-19 rout and Cincinnati in a 49-41 shootout in which San Diego trailed 28-7 at halftime.
Tomlinson credits the close-knit nature of the Chargers for his outstanding year.
"Every day you go to work with these guys," he said. "They're a special group to me. I think this group I will always remember more than any other football team I've been on. We've got a unique situation that kind of reminds me of college days. That's something that you really don't get in the National Football League, because you really don't have the time to get to know guys and really spend time with them.
"On this team it's different. It seems like every guy is like a brother."
FULL STORY
L.T. wins AP Offensive Player award - Yahoo! News
LT Also Wins AP OP Award.....
LT Also Wins AP OP Award.....
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