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#LaDainian Tomlinson has high hopes for Jets’ Le’Veon Bell-Frank Gore duo

#LaDainian Tomlinson has high hopes for Jets’ Le’Veon Bell-Frank Gore duo

August 11, 2020 | 12:08am | Updated August 11, 2020 | 12:11am

An extra-large eraser is needed to create a clean slate for an accomplished runner like Frank Gore or LaDainian Tomlinson.

A decade after Tomlinson signed with the Jets amidst motivation-generating whispers his Hall of Fame career was finished, another of the NFL’s career rushing leaders is extending his career in the same fashion. And it just so happens Gore always looked at Tomlinson as a primary role model, so his approach should be similar.

“I went in saying, ‘Don’t give me anything. Don’t think about what I’ve done in the past and what people are saying about me now. Judge me from this point on,’ ” Tomlinson, an NFL Network analyst, recently told The Post. “I tried to earn my teammates’, coaches’ and the fans’ respect when I got there.”

The result?

“To be totally honest, being in New York really rejuvenated me,” Tomlinson said. “I played with a passion that I hadn’t played with in a number of years because of the brand of football we were playing. It was fun again. We had a great team. All those things aligned. I was more than willing to put it all on the line for the Jets.”

Jets
Le’Veon Bell, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Frank GoreBill Kostron, N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg, AP

These Jets aren’t those Jets.

Tomlinson’s last game with the San Diego Chargers — where he won an MVP and set the single-season record with 28 rushing touchdowns — was a playoff loss to the Jets. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, so he signed a two-year free-agent contract and led the Jets in rushing in 2010, when a second straight season ended in the AFC Championship game.

The Jets went 8-8 in 2011 — Tomlinson’s final season before retirement — and haven’t returned to the playoffs since.

Different general manager and coaching staff, too. Same fans, though.

“New York is a different place,” Tomlinson said. “If the fans see you putting in the work and they see how passionate you are and dedicated you are to the game, they will follow you and cheer for you no matter what. If they don’t see you committed to being a Jet, they won’t support you. I don’t envision that being Frank’s problem because he is very committed.”

Gore, 37, comes to his fourth team in as many seasons ranking third all-time with 15,347 rushing yards. Tomlinson retired at age 33, when he was fifth (now seventh) with 13,684 yards.

Tomlinson beat out youngster Shonn Greene to be the starter in 2010 before settling in as a third-down pass-catcher behind Greene in 2011. Gore’s role is to pair with two-time All-Pro Le’Veon Bell, who had a disappointing first season with the Jets after sitting out 2018 in a contract dispute with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I don’t think you will lose anything when Le’Veon goes out of the game,” Tomlinson said. “If you need Frank to be a pass-protector, he will do that very well. If you need him to be the short-yardage, goal-line runner, he can do that. They will feed off each other.

“If they are thinking about lightening the load on Le’Veon, in my mind that means a little more Frank Gore, so Le’Veon can be fresher in the fourth quarter and late in the season. I think they will complement each other very well.”

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