LaDainian Tomlinson campaigned in Times Square, shaking hands and handing out bumper stickers. He did the talk-show circuit, saturated the media with ads and sent volunteers into the streets of major cities to deliver leaflets.
The San Diego Chargers star isn't running for office, though. He's not throwing his support behind any presidential candidates or raising any sort of awareness, either. He's actually pushing a much simpler agenda: He wants Americans to pick him first in their fantasy football drafts.
``I should be the No. 1 pick because I'm proven,'' Tomlinson told The Associated Press during the start of the tongue-in-cheek ``LT in '08'' media blitz promoting foxsports.com's fantasy games. ``I've been doing it for a while and have experience helping owners win their leagues. I got a good track record, and I'll be ready on day one.''
He's already the overwhelming favorite in this fake election, but his fake candidacy raises an interesting question for all the fake general managers gearing up for fantasy drafts: Does the traditional strategy of picking the top running back first still make sense considering last year's record-shattering season by New England quarterback Tom Brady?
Tomlinson believes so, and history seems to back him up.
While stressing that he wants to run a clean campaign and doesn't want to knock other players, Tomlinson also points out that Brady will have a tough time duplicating his record 50 TD passes, just as Peyton Manning did after breaking the touchdown pass record in 2004 and Tomlinson himself did after setting the TD rushing mark in 2006.
``It's hard to come back and do it again because the NFL is so good,'' Tomlinson said Wednesday, about a week before most NFL teams open training camp. ``All these teams that New England has on the schedule this year, they're going to study exactly what the Patriots did well and how they got all those touchdowns and they're going to take it away.''
Manning had 49 TD passes in '04, followed by 28 the next year. Tomlinson's TD total dropped from 28 to 15 last year. He especially struggled early, held to under 65 yards and well under 3 yards a carry in his first three games. Even so, Tomlinson recovered to produce 10 touchdowns in his final 11 games and wound up leading the league with nearly 1,500 yards rushing.
And Tomlinson the politician is quick to point out that his seven-year track record is full of such achievements.
``You look at the numbers on average on what I've put up, and I think it speaks for itself,'' Tomlinson said. ``I don't want to seem like I'm bragging or anything, but the numbers are there ... and I'm all about scoring touchdowns.''
He averages 16 scores a year and has never been below 10. He averages 1,500 yards rushing and has never been below 1,200.
Brady has been consistent over his career, but nothing like LT. In the five years before his record outburst, Brady averaged 26 touchdowns - decent numbers but nothing that makes fantasy owners go crazy.
Plus, Tomlinson says while jokingly going back on his pledge to run a clean campaign, Brady is getting clobbered in the PR department.
``I haven't heard of him going out campaigning much, so I don't know if he has the exposure,'' Tomlinson said with a laugh. ``I came to New York, which is the biggest market there is, and I'm hitting the streets. So people, they see my face and I'm talking to them about fantasy football. What is Tom Brady doing right now?''
Brady, apparently running on the 50 Touchdown Passes Need No Explaining platform, did not respond to an interview request left with his agent's office.
While Tomlinson is the front-runner over Brady and fringe candidates like Manning, Minnesota's Adrian Peterson and Philadelphia's Brian Westbrook, he's still not perfect.
If there were other candidates campaigning in this race, they might run ads pointing out that Tomlinson's getting up there in years. He's 29 with heavy mileage, averaging 335 carries and 55 receptions over the past four years, but says that's no factor.
``In this election, age is not really an issue; it's the experience that you have,'' he said. ``And my experience blows away any opponent that may come up against me.
Despite the fact that the campaign's a gag, Tomlinson is serious about performing well for his constituency.
``I want them to be able to have bragging rights and win their leagues,'' said Tomlinson, who's never played fantasy football but knows he'll hear about it from fans if campaign promises aren't fulfilled.
``I hear it a lot, about what they need from me, from little old ladies in my own hometown of San Diego, saying 'You know, you really didn't do so well against Kansas City last week, but you've got to pick it up against Denver,''' he said.
Tomlinson already even hears it after big games, like his 198-yard, four-TD output against Oakland last year.
``I had somebody come up to me and say, 'Man, why didn't you get 200 yards? Why didn't you get five touchdowns?' And I was thinking to myself, 'Are you crazy?' ... I just had almost 200 yards and four touchdowns, is that not enough? But that's the type of thing that happens when you're playing fantasy football.''
