Where's the respect?

Chargers' on-field ineptness shoves Tomlinson out of the spotlight

LaDainian Tomlinson is the only player to catch 100 passes and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Stephen Dunn/Getty Images Running Back Rankings No. Player Team Points 1. LaDainian Tomlinson S.D. 225.5 2. Ahman Green G.B. 224.5 3. Priest Holmes K.C. 223.5 4. Shaun Alexander Sea. 178 5. Jamal Lewis Bal. 171.5 6. Deuce McAllister N.O. 162.5 7. Fred Taylor Jac. 156.5 8. Clinton Portis Den. 148 9. Ricky Williams Mia. 135.5 10. Tiki Barber NYG 122 11. Edgerrin James Ind. 118.5 12. Travis Henry Buf. 110 13. Curtis Martin NYJ 94.5 14. Stephen Davis Car. 93.5 15. Domanick Davis Hou. 87.5 16. Eddie George Ten. 64      • Click here for explanation of how totals were derived. Head2Head Who is the NFL's best all-around RB? SI.com's Andrew Perloff and B. Duane Cross debate the issue. • Click here for full story. Hall of Fame RBs There are 40 running backs in the Hall of Fame. Take a walk down memory lane with the likes of Nagurski, Csonka, Matson and Sayers. • Click here for full story. Top 15 Rushers Twenty-five names make up the list of running backs who finished in the top 15 in rushing yards between 2001-03. However, only six were in the top 15 each of those years. • Click here for full story. Statitudes What is the oldest single-season team rushing record? Go Inside the Numbers for a look at key rushing marks in league history. • Click here for full story.

There are many variables in determining the NFL's best all-around running back. It's an exercise in futility. Still the argument rages: Who is the best?

Look no further than LaDainian Tomlinson. Forget the Chargers' 4-12 record, the first pick in the draft (again) and all the other undesirables associated with San Diego. Tomlinson is, even if by the slightest of margins, the league's best all-around running back.

That fact should rankle those who contend San Diego "lost" in the deal after the Chargers traded the No. 1 pick in 2001 to Atlanta, which drafted Michael Vick. San Diego did not come out on the short end of the stick in that deal; Vick is not the league's premier quarterback -- but Tomlinson is the NFL's top running back.

Last season, Tomlinson was one of six running backs to rush for at least 1,500 yards, eclipsing the record of four established in 1979 and equaled in 2002. Yet despite playing behind a suspect offensive line, Tomlinson still managed to account for 46 percent of the Chargers' offense. His 18 touchdowns (13 rushing, four receiving, one passing) were 47 percent of the team's total.

Tomlinson has racked up 4,542 offensive yards the past two seasons, even after being held last year to two of the three lowest single-game totals in his career, 29 and 34 yards.

Yet he still cannot crack the American consciousness, much less a Pro Bowl roster.

"That just shows you what kind of respect we [the Chargers] have around the NFL, which is none," Tomlinson said of being snubbed last season. "If we want some, we've got to earn it ourselves. We've got to flat out, hands down, be better than other guys in stats. That's the way it's always going to be."

If that's the case -- being "better than other guys in stats" -- Tomlinson should have been the first back booking a flight to Hawaii. A look at Tomlinson's 2003 statistics in 17 categories reveals that he is overall the best of the best. Better than Priest Holmes. And Jamal Lewis. And any other running back by comparison.

"That No. 21 that San Diego has is the best I've seen in a long time. ... He's unbelievable," said Denver head coach Mike Shanahan. And CBS analyst Solomon Wilcots told The San Diego Union-Tribune, "L.T. reminds me of Barry Sanders with great footwork, great quickness and great stop-and-start ability."

So why doesn't Tomlinson get the credit he obviously deserves? Is it because he plays on the left coast, in games that generally are not "national" or prime time? Is it because he plays for a team that is just 17-31 in his three seasons? Is it because he doesn't seek the national spotlight to mug for paparazzi or Madison Avenue? Whatever the excuse, it's unacceptable.

However, word is getting around about Tomlinson. He garnered 21 All-Pro votes in The Associated Press balloting last year (one less than Holmes) -- up from four in 2002 (which was three fewer than Fred Beasley). And Sports Illustrated's Dr. Z tabbed Tomlinson as his all-pro back, saying: "No one combines pass catching and running as well as the Chargers' LaDainian Tomlinson does."

Still smarting after Tomlinson's omission from the Pro Bowl, Chargers head coach Marty Schottenheimer said, "I think he's the best running back in the National Football League. It's very, very disappointing when you see the quality of performance he has produced, in every regard.

"I've had players that have been overlooked in the past, but never one that I thought was as obvious as this one should have been."

Indeed, Tomlinson is the league's best all-around running back. And if stats make the back, here is something to think about: Tomlinson has rushed for 4,564 yards -- 351 more than all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith had in his first three seasons. Tomlinson is 491 yards off Jim Brown's pace through 48 games, and 17 behind Walter Payton's.

Smith, Payton and Brown are the last three men to be the league's all-time leading rusher, so Tomlinson is in good company just three years into his burgeoning career.

The numbers support the case that LaDainian Tomlinson is the NFL's best running back -- and well on his way to becoming one of the game's all-time greats.

B. Duane Cross is a senior producer for SI.com.