The great debate

SAN DIEGO – Make room. It's a Monday afternoon and San Diego Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer is leaning against a wall in a hallway describing LaDainian Tomlinson's season in a nutshell. Superlatives flow. Gushing commences. He's even using sound effects. Wait long enough and there might be a laser-light show.

"He's as fresh as he has ever been at this point in a season," Schottenheimer says. "He gets the ball now and he's just – schoooom!"

Schoooom?

Schottenheimer skims a fist across the air.

"Schoooom!"

OK, not exactly the most technical analysis. Not that you really need it to be at this point. The outside world gets it. Tomlinson is good. Fifteen touchdowns in five games good. Record-setting scoring pace good. Best running back in the NFL good. And of course, as some now suggest, maybe even Jim Brown good.

"The finest running back I've ever seen," Schottenheimer says.

A visitor standing nearby raises an eyebrow.

"Now, I'm sure there are those who will debate it," he says. "Certainly my opinion is subjective. But I feel very comfortable in my position saying it."

It's no small statement. After all, Schottenheimer's expertise goes back to 1965, when he was drafted into both the AFL and NFL. That was also Jim Brown's last year as a professional football player. So when Schottenheimer talks about running backs, he's drawing from a pool of knowledge that includes Brown, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith. He's been around the block, so when Schottenheimer shares his opinion on the NFL's best-ever running back, it's like Moses talking about the most reliable sandals he's ever seen.

That the conversation is even taking place says something about how far Tomlinson has come. Considered one of the NFL's best running backs – if not the best – over the last few seasons, he's already begun to transcend his own era at only 27 years old. Like Payton, Sanders and Smith before him, his name is now beginning to enter the Jim Brown conversation.

"When you say those two words – Jim Brown – everybody knows who it is," says Tomlinson, who has scored 18 touchdowns and also thrown one this season. "You know who Jim Brown is. You know the respect his peers at the time had for him. Even people who watched him play [had it] and even us young people. To be mentioned as a player of his caliber, in the same sentence, it's almost unreal."

Unreal but certainly not unrealistic. In only 5½ seasons (88 games), Tomlinson has racked up 98 touchdowns rushing and receiving, and should shatter the record for fastest running back to 100. And that's not even counting his passing touchdowns, which don't count in the total. Brown and Emmitt Smith achieved the century mark in 93 games. Tomlinson could do it this Sunday against Denver in his 89th.

But what's truly frightening about his production: If Tomlinson finishes out the season holding true to his average this year of two touchdowns per game, he'll finish his 6th season with 112 – putting him 11th all time for touchdowns scored. And with some health and luck, he could be trailing only Smith (175) and Jerry Rice (207) by the end of 2008, at the age of 29.

"The numbers are mind-boggling," Chargers tight end Antonio Gates says. "But you know what's really amazing – if he only did one thing, he'd still be a great running back. That tells you how good he really is. If he only caught the ball out of the backfield like he was a third-down back, he could still make the Pro Bowl. Remember, this is a guy that had 100 catches just a few years ago [2003]. And if he only ran the ball like he was a first- and second-down back, he'd still be a Pro Bowler. He's the ultimate three-down back."

Some will scoff at Tomlinson's numbers and say he has yet to win a Super Bowl. But like Sanders before him, he likely won't need it to validate his existence among the best of all time. In fact, even Schottenheimer's insistence that he may be the best ever may not be far off. Clearly, Tomlinson has proven to have an amazing mixture of many great runners. He has some of the vision and cutting ability of Sanders. He has some of the power and blocking ability of Smith. He has the acceleration and catching ability of Marshall Faulk. And if you want to throw Payton's name out there when you talk about tough yardage, find some film of Tomlinson's stiff arm. It's quite possibly the best in the league today – a wrinkle that even the greatest ever, Jim Brown, can appreciate.

"He's so sneaky in his steps," Brown said. "And then I looked at a straight arm that he put on an individual when I was watching the film. If you're not careful, you miss that. He must have tremendous strength in his shoulders. He has things that are so subtle, if you're not careful, you miss them. The intelligence of knowing how to cut, how to accelerate and even how to conserve energy – those are the things I notice."

But not the only things. Two weeks ago when Tomlinson and Brown met before San Diego's game against Cleveland, the Pro Football Hall of Famer walked away feeling a sense of admiration for Tomlinson. In a league where so many young players measure pro football history only back to their own NFL draft day, Brown met a player whose humility ran deeper than his own stat line.

"To me, he's very much like Curtis Martin," Brown said. "Curtis is a fine human being and a great football player, but very unassuming. They are both people of value. [LaDainian] is centered. It's not an extraordinary thing. It's the way it should be. He's a gentleman in an era where you have individuals that are totally talking about themselves boorishly and are kind of buffoons.

"When I walked away, it was like walking away from Walter Payton because I had so much admiration for him as a young man. LaDainian's ability is what it is. But as a young man, the way he carries himself is impressive. It's so gratifying because when you listen to [Terrell Owens'] situation and so many of these situations, and you look at the teams today and the money – there's such an emphasis on money – you just don't run into people like this kid."

The Payton comparison is extremely flattering for Tomlinson, who grew up in Rosebud, Texas but chose his position only after seeing the Chicago star play.

"He was the reason why I wanted to play running back," Tomlinson says. "Seeing him at an early age, I think I was five years old or something, there was something about him that I was drawn to. Walter was able to do anything you asked him to do out on the football field. He was able to do it. So I tried to pattern my game after that the same way, saying that, you know, that's the way you play football. I'm a running back but yet still I can do anything that a coach asks me to do out on the football field."

With his sixth season nearing a close, and his name being spoken in the same conversation as his idols, Tomlinson has filled out that doctrine nicely. Like Payton and Brown before him, it’s hard for people to look at his game, and find something that he can’t do on a football field.