Growing Legend: LaDainian Tomlinson ’05 Added to Another Hall

Husband, father, Walter Payton Man of the Year. 
NFL MVP, Pro Football Hall of Famer. 
Horned Frog, Charger, TCU Trustee. 

LaDainian Tomlinson ’05 has just about run out of room on his Instagram bio for any more accomplishments or awards, yet there he was being tucked into another purple jacket recently.

This time, the purple marked his induction into the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame. 
 
“This never gets old,” Tomlinson told The Dallas Morning News. “I’ve been fortunate to get into a few halls of fame now, but just to be recognized like this, it never gets old.”  
 
Tomlinson was one of 13 people honored in the 2025 class. He went in alongside another Horned Frog football legend — cornerback Larry Brown. After playing at TCU in 1989 and ’90, Brown played for the Raiders and Cowboys, being named MVP of Super Bowl XXX for Dallas. Tomlinson also excelled in the NFL, playing his way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (first ballot) while with the San Diego Chargers. 

It is impossible to tell the story of TCU Football without Tomlinson. That résumé, by itself, is a mouthful. Heisman finalist, Doak Walker Award winner, led the NCAA in rushing yards (twice) and yet maybe most remembered for being an integral part of the Horned Frogs team that won the Sun Bowl in 1998. 

That game is credited as the beginning of a renaissance of TCU Football that has seen them ascend to the highest levels of college football, including playing in the National Championship game in 2023.  

Tomlinson continues to represent the university as a member of the TCU Board of Trustees, most recently serving on the search committee that brought Mike Buddie to TCU as the director of intercollegiate athletics. The Board was integral in helping shape TCU’s recently launched strategic plan, LEAD ON: Values in Action, which includes athletics as one of its four pillars.