What If... LaDainian Tomlinson went to K-State?
Arguably the most commonly used phrase among sports fans is simply, "What if?"
It's no different for Kansas State football fans. There are so many moments than could have gone differently - good and bad - and possibly altered the course of Wildcat football.
We continue our off-season series of K-State "What Ifs," at KSO by looking back at a recruiting miss that could have altered the history of K-State football in the late 1990s.
What happened: Maybe it's urban legend. Maybe it's true. What is 'it?' It's the story that LaDainian Tomlinson once fell asleep in Bill Snyder's office during a recruiting visit to Manhattan. What we know for fact is Tomlinson did visit K-State as a high school recruit and was courted by the Wildcats, but ultimately he was not offered by Snyder's program. The only schools to offer Tomlinson were Baylor, TCU, UTEP and North Texas. Tomlinson signed with TCU.
What it caused: Tomlinson went to TCU and had one of the greatest four-year careers of any back in college football history. He ran for 5,387 yards and 56 touchdowns. Darren Sproles, for comparison, finished his K-State career with 4,979 yards and 45 touchdowns. K-State could have had Tomlinson and Sproles back-to-back, as Tomlinson's last season was 2000, while Sproles would come in 2001. In Tomlinson's last two seasons, alone, at TCU he ran for 4,132 yards and 42 scores on his way to being selected by the (then) San Diego Chargers and going on to a Hall of Fame NFL career.
But what if... Tomlinson had ended up in Manhattan? Whether that means he needed to stay awake on that visit or not may never be known, but it's impossible not to fantasize about what he could have meant to the K-State program.
Sure, Tomlinson would have had to compete with the likes of Mike Lawrence and Eric Hickson for playing time early in his career, but there's no reason to debate whether or not Tomlinson could have surpassed the two for carries at a time when Snyder had no problem playing younger, more talented players even if they didn't know the system as well as returning veterans.
K-State's backfield in 1997 and 1998 would have been Michael Bishop and LaDainian Tomlinson.
K-State won 11 games each season WITHOUT Tomlinson.
You don't think he would have been enough to be the difference in, say, the 1998 Big 12 Championship double overtime loss to Texas A&M? With Tomlinson, K-State not only goes undefeated and wins a national championship in 1998, they may have been one of the greatest teams in college football history. I don't believe that to be hyperbole.
Then, after Bishop departed in 1998, Tomlinson could have become the focal point of the offense in 1999 and 2000 - years in which he essentially racked up back-to-back 2,000 yard seasons at TCU. K-State won 11 games each of those years without him. Again, with LT, K-State probably wins at least one Big 12 title in those two years and beats Oklahoma once - maybe twice - in 2000.
Tomlinson very well could have taken home the Heisman Trophy as a senior in 2000. He finished fourth in the voting playing for TCU, but it's hard to see him not winning the award in 2000 if the Wildcats win something like 12 games and a conference title - at least - with LT eclipsing the 2,000-yard mark wearing K-State purple.
The 1997-2000 seasons were magical at Kansas State. Eleven wins every single year, living in the Top 10 of the national rankings, shots at national/conference titles and Heisman Trophy chatter.
They are cherished memories, and for good reason.
But, what if those years included multiple 12-win seasons, two conference championships, a national championship and a Heisman Trophy winner?
They very well may have had Tomlinson ended up in Manhattan.
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