On list of best ever, L.T. already No. 6 (with a bullet)

When I watch LaDainian Tomlinson, the man who possesses as many letters in his name as he does NFL records, I am reminded of Gale Sayers.

And Eric Dickerson. And O.J. Simpson, minus the knives. Oh, and Jim Brown, too.

When watching Tomlinson, he is all of these players, and others. He is so much like many of the greats, it is one of the more uncanny things I have witnessed in sports.

Talk of the NFL's best ever running back might soon begin and end with LaDainian Tomlinson. (Getty Images)

He possesses the vision and strength of Brown, the grace of Dickerson, the quickness of Sayers, the moves of Simpson. He is all of these men.

Tomlinson reminds us of another era in football's history. Now, mediocrity rules. Few runners truly qualify as great. Tomlinson is the next great running back and is such a dominant player at his position, he already outshines backs who are in the Hall of Fame.

My keyboard didn't stutter. You read that right.

The numbers are part of the reason. Numbers like 100: Fastest to 100 career touchdowns, in just his 89th game.

Or 19: the most touchdowns in a six-game span.

Or 22: the most touchdowns in the first 10 games of a season. That's more touchdowns than the entire Denver Broncos offense.

Or 4: Consecutive 4-touchdown games, tying a league record.

Tomlinson is not just rewriting record books, he is re-engineering our thoughts about what a great running back is.

Now, prepare your "Freeman is an idiot" threads on the feedback pages.

Or just reheat the old ones.