Oliver wasn't home when a reporter knocked on his door this week.
He's staying in a house that's always been in his family, just off the highway with a tin roof and an ancient rocking chair on the front stoop. Dogs yap and growl, disturbing the silence.
Oliver and Loreane divorced when LaDainian was about 6, and Loreane moved the kids a half-hour north to Waco. Oliver has had a spotty relationship with his children since.
Oliver, Loreane said, has struggled with addiction for almost all of LaDainian's life.
A decrepit sign marks the Falls County settlement that has been home to several generations of Tomlinsons.
Loreane let Oliver stay with her for much of LaDainian's senior season at TCU so that he could see his son play college ball on a consistent basis for the first time.
Despite the disappointment and hurt out of the relationship, Loreane, who is wary of discussing Oliver, said LaDainian and her other children understood as they got older that their dad was ill.
"I just told them to pray for him," Loreane said. "They've always sought their dad out. LaDainian's asked him several times to come and stay with him [in San Diego]. He would do whatever it takes, but he refuses to leave."
Loreane remembers LaDainian calling her last season, worried about Oliver. He broke down crying. Loreane said that's when a sad reality hit him.
"I can't help him," he told his mom, "there's nothing I can do."
LaDainian spent most of his formative years running around with the neighborhood kids and playing Pop Warner football in a modest, middle-class neighborhood in Waco.
Loreane eventually married Herman Chappell, who was in the business of restoring church pews. Loreane worked at Head Start. LaDainian, meanwhile, played basketball and baseball and ran track as his devotion to football grew. He slept with a football every night and became a fan of Emmitt Smith and the Cowboys.
"It kept me humble, just the surroundings," LaDainian said. "Had a three-bedroom house. It was just normal it seemed like."
LaDainian maintains strong ties to Waco. Each summer, he holds youth football camps in San Diego, Waco and Fort Worth. And he gives 15 $1,000 scholarships each year to graduating seniors at his alma mater, University High School. Recently, a few of the University coaches went to California to watch LaDainian's appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno.
For LaDainian, stardom didn't come right away at University – and nearly didn't come at all. Even now, there is no shrine to L.T. at the school. For a Nike commercial filmed there, the producers had to create an L.T.-devoted trophy case.
JIM MAHONEY / Special to DMN
Oliver Tomlinson lives in this modest house in the Tomlinson Hill community, having turned down invitations from his son LaDainian to move to San Diego.
But don't let that fool you. University retired LaDainian's No. 5 jersey in 2002, five years after his graduation, and the student body takes pride in attending L.T.'s old school.
Staying behind
Leroy Coleman has coached hundreds of kids since arriving at University in 1977 – "I'm an institution, or I should be institutionalized," he jokes – but none like LaDainian. Even so, the future standout would have to earn the right to be the featured running back, just like any other player under Coleman. So LaDainian played fullback and outside linebacker, biding his time.
But as LaDainian's senior season approached, Chappell took a job in Garland. Before the family moved to the Dallas suburb, Loreane made the difficult decision to leave LaDainian behind to live with family friends and neighbors – Emmett and Rose Hughes, whose son Jason played football with LaDainian. LaDainian wanted to finish his high school at University.
"He said, 'Mama, the scouts won't know where I am,' " Loreane remembered.
The Hugheses are still close to LaDainian and recently stayed with him and his wife, LaTorsha, in their 10,000-square-foot home outside San Diego.
It was a world away from the Hughes' tidy, single-story four-bedroom home in Waco, where LaDainian and Jason shared a room with a bunk bed and LaDainian became part of the family, helping to wash the dishes by hand.
"He would take three hours," said Rose, laughing.
Emmett said LaDainian was good about following the family rules. They only had problems a couple of times – like when the boys skipped school on Senior Day.
LaDainian still turns to Emmett for advice. And he still wants Miss Rose, as he still calls her, to make her smothered pork chops when he visits Waco.
Breakout season
In his senior season, LaDainian was named second-team all-state after rushing for records for 2,554 yards and 39 touchdowns.
He scored six touchdowns in a game against Austin LBJ.
"Each time, he just handed the ball to the referee," Coleman said, "just like he does now."
JIM MAHONEY / Special to DMN
"He's always said he wanted to be the best son, the best husband and the best father." – Loreane Tomlinson on her son LaDainian
LaDainian earned Waco-area player of the year honors. But that didn't mean the big schools wanted him.
Coleman said he sent out highlight tapes to schools across the country, but Texas, Texas A&M and the other prominent programs passed on the 5-10 back from Waco.
"They were stuck on dimensions and sizes at the time," Coleman said, "and they just didn't think he was the right fit. They thought he was too small and a step too slow."
TCU and North Texas showed the most interest. Baylor got involved late. But LaDainian would make his name at TCU, rushing for 5,263 yards and winning the Doak Walker Award as a senior in 2000. He became the fifth pick of the NFL draft.
"I was just doing my job," said former TCU assistant Steve Brickey, whose biggest claim to fame now is that he recruited LaDainian. "I was surprised he wasn't getting more attention. I was actually glad, but I was surprised."
The value of dreams
L.T.'s mom, now divorced from Chappell, was the biggest constant in LaDainian's life.
She stays busy with her four grandkids from her other two children. And she is writing a memoir to be entitled L.T. and Me.
"She instilled in me at a young age to really believe in myself," LaDainian said. "To go out there and dream. A dream that seemed impossible growing up in Waco."
Loreane said she's still amazed at what her son has accomplished.
JIM MAHONEY / Special to DMN
"They thought he was too small and a step too slow." – Leroy Coleman, Waco University High football coach, on why so many colleges passed on Tomlinson (whose No. 5 high school jersey is retired)
She said he's handled the spotlight extremely well for a man who is often reserved. She said he's still the guy who just wants to sit in a corner when there's a party going on in every room around him.
LaDainian wants very much to have a family. LaTorsha had a miscarriage when she was almost seven months pregnant a couple of years ago. They already have a tricycle track and sandbox ready at their home.
"He's always said he wanted to be the best son, the best husband and the best father," Loreane said. "I know he will be the very best father. He believes it is important."
Loreane said LaDanian decided a long time ago, deep inside, that he would take himself as far as he could go.
She is happiest when she sees him – the player who very much came from somewhere – living out his dream.
"I know all he wants to do is play football," Loreane said. "I think he's very proud of Texas, the family values, of who he is and what he has given to the family.
"He's made his name proud."
I'm glad that his father at least got to see what a fine man that LT turned out to be and got to see his amazing 2006 season.
One of the only class acts in the NFL. Your ignorance is lost on me.Best wishes to the family and all involved.
I'm glad that his father at least got to see what a fine man that LT turned out to be and got to see his amazing 2006 season.
