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As I watched Monday Night Football last night, I smiled as i listened to Tony Kornheiser talk as if Ladainian Tomlinson was a great player whose immense talents have or are being overlooked in that obscure market called San Diego(which happens to be the 8th largest city in the U.S.). I can't think of a smaller market than Green Bay, Wisconsin yet somehow i think you've all heard of some guy named Favre. You've probably heard of a guy named Peyton Manning but how many of you know that Indianapolis ranks as just the 26th largest media market in the U.S.? My point is that while i agree that a player's profile is almost certainly elevated when playing in one of the top markets such as New York, playing in a smaller market doesn't automatically preclude an athlete from basking in the limelight. LT may not be marketed as much as some of the other athletes, but he's still earned his stripes to any observer of the game of football.

Putting that aside and looking in at the career numbers posted by the soon to be 6th time Pro-Bowler and All-Pro, the stats are undeniably awesome. LT could hang up his shoes after this season and be a sure fire Hall of Famer. In fact, no other running back in the history of the game has had more rushing yards or touchdowns than Tomlinson after 7 seasons and he still has a game remaining this season. LT measured against some of the greats after their first 7 seasons:

Whether Tomlinson will be able to eclipse the great career numbers of Emmitt Smith is something only time will tell. No matter the result, we should consider ourselves fortunate to be witnessing one of the greatest running backs to ever play the game do his thing and do it with class.