Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE

In truly clichéd fashion LaDainian Tomlinson signed a one-day contract with the San Diego Chargers so he could carry on the time honored tradition of all Charger greats by leaving the game without a championship ring. I guess this should be the point in time when I set aside my grievances with all things San Diego to show proper respect for one of the best running backs to enter the game in the last 20 years. But I just can’t.

I can’t strip from my mind the many images of Tomlinson running through, around and over silver and black jerseys like Warren Sapp does a group of children when oven-fresh pizza is served at Chuck E. Cheese’s.

I’ll never forget 2006 when my girlfriend at the time made a noble effort to snap me out of a funk I was in by buying Raiders-Chargers tickets. We made the trek from L.A. to the Bay just to see Randy Moss suffer a rib injury in the first quarter and to watch in horror as LT ran, caught and threw for a TD.

Many moments like that are frozen in my mind. I would have reoccurring nightmares of that visor running by me in a blur so fast you weren’t sure if it was a Hall of Fame running back or Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe that just sped past.

Now let me make something clear. I’m not a complete hater. I had nothing but respect for Junior Seau. I always admired the way Derrick Thomas went about his business. To this day I’ll even argue that John Elway was the best quarterback I’ve ever seen. I even grew to like Steve Largent at one point in time. Every one of them an AFC West rival and every one of them I’d have gladly welcomed to the silver and black.

With LT it’s just something different. I know how nice the dude was. He killed my favorite team plenty of times and did the same to a few of my fantasy teams for good measure. However I’m not even going to debate his place in history. He’s not even in the convo for best running back ever in my mind. But I will say this much. He had a stretch of years that were as dominant as any we’ve ever seen from a running back.

That’s about as close as I’ll come to complimenting Tomlinson. Otherwise to me he’s just another Charger that teased his bandwagon fans with false Super Bowl aspirations. Say whatever you will of his absolute ownership of Oakland – it never amounted to anything more than bragging rights. You Dolt fans can have those. Bragging rights don’t come with a Lombardi trophy, at least not in San Diego.

By law I’m required to hate anything and everything about the San Diego Chargers. It comes with my Raider Nation membership.

I can’t stand their logo. I hate their colors. There are no fans I detest more than that fair weather group down in San Diego most of whom couldn’t tell LaDainian Tomlinson from Natrone Means. To this day I can’t even stand the name Jack Murphy just because of the Chargers. While we’re at it I don’t honestly even like the city of San Diego, do like the running backs that come out of that city though (gotta respect that).

All that said it took a real effort on my part to try and dislike Junior Seau.

In fact, if I’m being completely honest, the only thing I ever disliked about Seau was the jersey he wore as a pro. Seau embodied everything you could have ever wanted in a football player. Had he been a Raider there’s a good chance Seau would have been among the most beloved to ever wear Silver and Black. At least for me he would have been.

When I was just a young buck growing up in SoCal Seau was the man most of my football coaches referred to. He represented tradition as evident by owning the honor of sporting #55 at USC. He represented toughness as evident by the 20 (count them…20!) season of pro ball. He represented pride. He represented dedication. He represented leadership. He represented everything the game of football is and how it should be played.

In short Junior Seau was as good a football role model as there ever was and ever will be.

Seau was and is about the only Charger I ever wanted to be a Raider. It took real effort to dislike Junior Seau. The type of effort that usually ended in complete and total failure on my part because no matter hard I tried – even after he did my Raiders dirty – I always respected the way he played the game.

That’s why it is almost impossible to wrap my head around the sad details of Seau’s death.

No matter the circumstances I’ll still only remember the man that terrorized my favorite team. I’m choosing to remember the Seau that embodies everything the middle linebacker position is supposed to be. I’m going to only remember the sure fire Hall of Famer. The warrior. The #55.

R.I.P. Junior Seau, your death occurred far too soon but your legacy will live well beyond all of us that saw you play. Your influence on the game will never be forgotten.

For more coverage on Seau’s tragic passing and more memories of his amazing career be sure to check out Bolt Beat.