Tomlinson embracing his new role

The conversation happened a dozen years ago, but LaDainian Tomlinson finds himself thinking about it a lot these days.

Tomlinson was 20 years old when Dennis Franchione, his coach at Texas Christian University, called him into his office and shut the door. The coach told him he thought there was no limit to his future, that he was sure he had the talent to make a big name for himself in the NFL.

"And then he said you're going to have a lot of success, but at some point, all glory is fleeting," the Jets' 32-year-old running back recalled recently. "At the time, I really didn't know what he meant."

Now, as he enters the twilight of his Hall of Fame career, Tomlinson has a fair idea of what Franchione was talking about. And this is why he is dead set on enjoying every down of football he has left to play with the Jets, despite the reduced role the team is asking him to play as a third-down specialist.

In the annals of modern sport, this makes Tomlinson more than a bit unusual. This is an era when prominent professional athletes, most recently Jorge Posada, struggle publicly with the prospect of not being a featured player in their later years. Tomlinson, however, has embraced the idea of a transition to a third-down back while Shonn Greene ascends to the starting spot. He also has agreed to take a pay cut of more than $1 million this season to do it.

What kind of player willingly takes a pay cut and agrees to play less?

"A special player," Jets coach Rex Ryan said.

And a player who was raised not to let his ego get in the way of where he is supposed to go. From the time Tomlinson started playing youth football in Texas through his first year in the NFL, his mother, Loreane Chappell, would call him up with examples of good players who got into trouble because they put themselves ahead of everyone else. Even today, when she reads or sees her son say something that she doesn't like, she is quick to call him up and ask him about it.

"I always told him that if he stays humble, God can lift him up," Chappell said in a recent phone interview. "I wanted to keep it in his mind that today you're here, but tomorrow you're gone. I wanted to keep him grounded."

With the lockout this season, Tomlinson had some extra time to reflect on his career and where he wanted it to go. Tomlinson has been the league MVP. He's been an All Pro three times. He's played in five Pro Bowls. But with a young son now and a daughter on the way, he has begun to really think about his legacy and what he wants to one day tell his kids about his career.

"I've done everything that a guy can possibly do individually," Tomlinson said. "But there's one goal that's eluded me teamwise, and that's winning a world championship."

Tomlinson has yet to play for one, though he's come painfully close twice. In the 2007-08 season, his Chargers lost to New England in the AFC final. And last season, his Jets lost to the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. For many Jets fans, the most enduring image from that game was Tomlinson being stood up by the Steelers' defense on the goal line on fourth-and-1.

Many thought Tomlinson simply ran out of gas at the end of the season, after being forced into a featured role earlier in the year. When the Jets signed Tomlinson from San Diego last season, the idea was for him to be a complementary back. Instead, he was the team's leading ball carrier with 914 yards and six touchdowns before struggling late in the playoffs.

Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer is hoping that by keeping Tomlinson fresher that the Jets can improve their third-down conversion percentage. Last season, the Jets converted 40 percent of their third downs, which ranked them somewhere in the middle of the league.

"LT is still a great player and still going to be involved," Schottenheimer said. "We've challenged him to help us with our third downs and to also help us work with the younger backs."

Tomlinson said that in the back of his mind, he always knew that the day would come when he would be asked to step out of the spotlight. Just like he knows that the day will come when he no longer can play the game.

"It's really not hard to accept that, to be honest with you," he said. "I've seen too many guys go through the league. I always knew that the day would come when someone else was going to come along and I would teach them what I've learned. I think it all goes back to the fleeting glory. I've thought a lot about that and I understand that now."