Merriman Has Some Advice for Chargers: Can't We All Get Along?

Last week, Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson used the power of the internet to get his message out, telling fans that he has no intentions of leaving San Diego, and any decisions would be left up to the front office.

So naturally, general manager A.J. Smith responded to Tomlinson by ... mocking him. Hardly seems like the best way to assuage any concerns LdT might have about his future with the team, and that might explain why linebacker Shawne Merriman has seen fit to get involved.

"That (stuff) doesn't help bring a Super Bowl to San Diego," linebacker Shawne Merriman said. "And that (stuff) needs to stop, period. It needs to stop now." ... "Going into next season ... I want people talking about how we're going to rebound from getting ... bounced from the playoffs – not if LT is going to be there or if I'm going to be there." ...

"We're a team, upstairs and downstairs, no matter what," Merriman said. "This is a business, but if you address the situation publicly now you have turmoil. "They're going to make decisions upstairs. But we've got to be a team."

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, team president Dean Spanos was "very upset" that the Tomlinson-Smith cat fight went public. Apparently, Spanos was "particularly bothered by some of the misunderstandings being portrayed ... based on pure speculation," and Smith -- when not making fun of Tomlinson, appears to have "deep respect" for one of the NFL's best backs.

Of course, that doesn't mean the team won't ask LdT to take a pay cut, or as has been rumored for weeks now, just release him. The former makes sense given the ubiquitous salary-cap considerations, but the latter seems drastic, even if Tomlinson refuses to restructure his contract.

But I won't be surprised if LdT is playing elsewhere in 2009. As Merriman points out, the NFL is a business, and for as much as Smith might respect Tomlinson, that won't get in the way of any personnel decisions he might make in the best interests of the team. Even if an entire fan base thinks he's out of his gourd.