Four years ago, Ladainian Tomlinson, running back for the San Diego Chargers, was one of the most dynamic players in the league.

He had all of the right skills to make him elusive, strong and fast and he set the record for most touchdowns ever in a season not by a quarterback.

Now, Tomlinson is 31 years old, cut from the team he spent nine seasons with and has signed with the New York Jets. He was the man in the Charger blue, so why would such a player leave a team when he struggled only last year?

The business of the game is one of the most infuriating parts of football for NFL fans because it is business that cuts legends from their teams.

For example, in 2003 the Dallas Cowboys cut Emmitt Smith, now a Hall of Fame running back, because he was just not a viable option at running back anymore. Three years ago, the Green Bay Packers traded away future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre because they were ready to move on without him.

Now, Ladainian Tomlinson is not on the level of Emmitt Smith, but he is still a very good player who was okay the past two years and fantastic the years prior. He was hurt and missed two games, so you could attribute his lack of success to that; however, a change of scenery would do Tomlinson good. He still has the skills to succeed, so that will not be a problem.

The problem is when teams cut or trade away their star players. What if the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints or New England Patriots released their star quarterbacks because they were “too expensive” or “unproductive”? I would be outraged.

Those players are the face of their teams, so losing a player like that would spark a mob attack by the fans, in addition to nearly destroying these teams.

The Saints, despite their love for their former safety Darren Sharper, who had nine interceptions and helped lead the Saints to the Super Bowl this year, would not give the money that Sharper desired, despite this season being an uncapped year for him.

As a matter of fact, only two teams seem to be going on a spending spree this off-season, and even those two teams are trying to keep salaries low. I am a bit surprised overall that teams would cut star players rather than try to sign them for another year.

No team wants to be like the New York Yankees in baseball and spend tons of money to find success. But losing star players whom the fans love is bad for both ticket sales and the overall love for a team.

Then again, when you have a player who was a superstar but who is fading away, the logical answer is to cut him to make room for the next superstar. Business dominates the logic, but we fans want a few players to stay because we love them.

What would you do if you had the choice to cut your favorite player from your favorite team when that player’s production began to sink?
 

Bryan Manderscheid is a freshman engineering major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected]