Five Reasons San Diego Should Be Happy LT is Gone

It pains me to say this, it really does. I have one Chargers jersey, and it's LT's. LaDainian Tomlinson was the workhorse of the Chargers for years, but it seems time has caught up to him. Just 4 years after his MVP season he is just a shell of his former self. After gaining a god awful 3.3 yards per carry this last season, it was time to let him go. I would have loved to see him retire in the blue and gold, but it seems that isn't going to happen. Yesterday after LT's tear-filled speech about leaving San Diego but still thinking he could play I really analyzed what this means for the Chargers. For them, I definitely think they got a better deal. Here are 5 reasons the San Diego Chargers and their fans should be optimistic about the departure of LT:

5. Leadership: For the majority of LT's career he was the workhorse, and by virtue of that, the leader of the Chargers. Everything he did and said was like the action of a king. People placed a lot of expectations on him to rally his team to a victory. Unfortunately, from watching him, he doesn't seem like that type of person. He would have been a great #2 to an established quarterback, but while he was in his prime there really wasn't one. After the 2007 season playoff game against the Patriots that all started to change. With LT on the bench with a knee sprain, and Rivers out there with a torn ACL we started to see who really wanted it. LT stayed on the bench and didn't bother to stand up and get his team fired up, denoting to me his lack of leadership. Despite this, I think there were still people in the locker room looking to him for guidance. Now with LT out of the picture and Rivers the only leader type figure in the locker room, it could help push San Diego over the edge depending on who the do and do not keep.

4. Expectations: Every season this is what we see: "Sports Illustrated/FoxSports/ESPN/Yahoo! Sports picks the San Diego Chargers to represent the AFC in the super bowl!" but every year it doesn't happen. Part of the reason for this, is I think a lot of analyst were waiting for LT to return to his 2006 form, or slightly under that and carry the Chargers in a game when he was needed the most. Unfortunately for the Chargers, that just hasn't happened. Every year the bar is set so high that anything less than a Super Bowl ring is considered a failure. Go to any message board with multiple fan bases talking about football and you will see a slew of posters commenting that the Chargers are "chokers" in the playoffs. Many of them don't remember a vast majority of the teams they played in the playoffs they were underdogs against, they just remember to the start of the season where the Chargers were picked to go to the Super Bowl. Now without LT artificially bumping up the expectations for the Super Bowl, maybe the Chargers will see a lax in predictions and ride the decreased pressure to the big game.

3. Press Conferences: I think this is a big one, just because LT carries so much weight in San Diego. There, he is like a god among men. It's why a lot of people who are Chargers fans think the Patriots are cheaters, LT said it so it must be true. LT captured the heart of many residents there, and those of us that live away from our city, but his press conferences were awful. There was rarely a situations where after a loss LT shouldered the blame, or took one for the team, it always seemed like he was blaming someone else. Maybe I'm a little biased because I've come to the conclusion he fleeced the Chargers the past two years, but there is a time where you need to just step up and say "I didn't play as well as I could have, I'll do better next time". Philip Rivers has frequently acknowledged his blame in a losing scenario, why can't LT? Why does it have to be the Patriots cheating to get a win, and not you failing to produce? LT has been a class act to San Diego off the field, but at some point you just have to suck it up.

2. Drafting Status: This probably seems a little off, but LT has monopolized the Chargers ability to draft a #1 running back the past few years. The Chargers could have attempted to draft a player that eventually could have amounted to something. Both Percy Harvin and Chris "Beanie" Wells would have been excellent choices, but with the way LT's attitude carries him, I think he would have taken it as a personal slight. So does management risk getting LT upset and definitely mailing it in knowing he is being replaced, or do they go with what they have and hope LT turns it all around? It seems like AJ Smith has gone for the second option the past few years and had hoped LT would suddenly return to his MVP form. Obviously that didn't happen and LT has been in a huge slump. AJ Smith I believed gambled on that opportunity and lost out. Now that LT is out of the picture there is reason to not draft another running back.

1. Pressure to Play: Norv Turner isn't my favorite person, but I can't argue with his results so far. However, this isn't about how much I dislike or like Norv, but how I felt the relationship with LT made him feel pressured into playing him more than he should have. Going along with my number 2 reason above, I think that AJ Smith with his gamble on LT getting better, and LT himself pressured Norv into playing LT more than he should have. Sproles was a decent back in 2008, and granted not necessarily a #1, but when you see your current back struggling it might be time for a change. I think, though, Norv was under pressure from LT saying he could get "it" back, and Norv seeming like the nice guy he is, believed that he could and just kept throwing him out there. Why is it when he was averaging 3.3 yards a carry wasn't a change made? I think he was just forced to play him, putting him in just to satisfy AJ Smith's false hopes that LT would be fine, LT's pressure, or both. Now that LT is out of there, Norv may be able to play who he wants and when he wants.

This isn't about me being overjoyed and throwing a party because LT is gone, it's just that there are some good things about this. Look, you can blame the O-Line all you want, but with that same line Sproles was doing slightly better (3.7 yards per carry) but was only given 93 touches as opposed to LT's 223. Maybe AJ Smith will draft a running back fit for the Air Coryell system Norv Turner is running. Maybe Sproles will get more touches, and maybe the Chargers can bring San Diego its first Championship...not that I am expecting them to.