It’s always good to see Texas natives succeed in the NFL, regardless of where they found their professional home. However, they never seem to forget where they came from. And one player who epitomizes this is Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson.
LT, as he is commonly known, spent most his career with the then San Diego Chargers before finishing up in New York with the Jets. Earlier this week, Tomlinson held his annual ‘Camp LT’ at TCU’s training facility in Fort Worth.
A former Horned Frog himself, Tomlinson took a minute to speak with the Texans Wire’s Anthony Wood (@arwoodNFL) about the event, what it meant to teach the local youngsters and his thoughts on returning to his proud home state.
AW: Can you tell us about Camp LT?
LT: Well, this is our annual camp LT. We’ve been doing this camp for probably almost 20 years now. It’s a fun time, it’s really I like to say like a crash course on leadership development, character development, and performance. You know the three keys to being a student-athlete, and that’s what we try to focus on. It’s not all about athletics here, we wanna teach the student about developing those leadership skills and character development. So, this is a different camp from most camps you might see, but I think our kids get the most out of what they learn here, where they can take it back to their respective schools.
AW: How exciting for you is it to see so many kids turn up and see the excitement on their faces?
LT: That makes you want to keep doing it when you see all the excitement on the kid’s faces and just the numbers that show up here, it tells you that this is important to them and that they want it, they need it. And so if you feel like you’re needed you want to be there, you want to be a part of it.
AW: What’s it like being back in your home state and giving back to the state you grew up in?
LT: Well, it means everything to me. This is the state that raised me, and I returned home to try to give back to the state, and my beloved University. I stay fairly close to campus, and I serve on the board of trustees here and it’s a great honor to be a trustee member here and also be a part of this community.
AW: Have you seen any future NFL stars here?
LT: That’s hard to tell at this age, but I’ll tell you what you certainly see talented kids running around, kids that definitely will be able to play at the collegiate level.
AW: And finally, have you ever thought about going into coaching?
LaDainian Tomlinson: Absolutely not. Coaches I respect their grind, they spend a lot of time away from home. I’ve spent enough time away from home if I went home and told my wife that I was going to be a coach she’d probably divorce me.
