Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson is about to begin his 11th season in the NFL, and he does not plan on stopping there.
“I will say that this is not the last year that I will play football,” Tomlinson said. ” I hope I continue to play here. This won’t be my last year playing.”
Tomlinson rushed for 914 yards last year for the Jets. He said he doesn’t want to retire before he’s given everything he has.
“What I don’t want to do is retire too early and still have, you’re going to have that fire anyway because we’ve been doing it so long, but I don’t want to have that urge or emptiness where I feel like, man I just didn’t get it out of me,” he said.
Tomlinson said he is fine with being a third-down back this year behind Shonn Greene. In fact, he said that was the role he expected to fill last year.
“I always saw myself as I got later in my career this is what I wanted to do,” Tomlinson said. “Obviously in order to take a role like this you can’t have an ego. That’s not what it’s about for me. Last year I wanted to come here and have a role. I was hoping it would be my role last year but it just didn’t shake out like that. I think that will be the way it is this year.”
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A big topic of conversation around the Jets on Friday was the loss of leadership the team has suffered since last year. Veteran leaders Tony Richardson, Damien Woody, Jerricho Cotchery and Shaun Ellis are no longer on the team. Ellis may return, but the team has a lost a lot of good locker room guys.
“I think concerned isn’t the appropriate word,” coach Rex Ryan said. “Obviously, I recognize the leadership these men brought to our team. There’s no question about it. We have other leaders here as well. But the one thing about this, this is a Jet family. We’re a team. And even the year before when we lost more great Jets and great teammates in Alan Faneca, Thomas Jones and Jay Feely and a bunch of them.
“This is the league. It’s what we’re in now and sometimes you can’t keep everybody. Sometimes guys are moving on for bigger pay days, sometimes they choose to leave. Other times it’s time for guys to leave. That’s just the way the game is. That’s the cold hard facts about this.”
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Speaking of Woody, he was at Jets headquarters Friday to announce his retirement. He is taking a job as an analyst with ESPN.