Ryan Mathews knew he'd have big shoes to fill when he took over San Diego Chargers legend LaDainian Tomlinson's spot, but he likely didn't expect to have AIDS wished upon him and his mother by Twitter users.
Unfortunately for Mathews, that's exactly what is happening to the oft-injured runner. "I got a lot of people just frustrated with my performance in the last few years," Mathews said. "They expected me to come in and do big things. And I expect myself to."
Mathews has not played a full season in any of his first three years in the NFL, and has twice played less than 10 games. He has only rushed for more than 1,000 yards once, in 2011, and even though his stats are not terrible his inability to perform over 16 games has fans at their wits end. When following such a key member of the franchise's history, the task becomes doubly difficult.
"I put a lot of pressure on myself to fill LT's shoes," Mathews said. "I was trying to live up to those expectations -- what he was doing in his prime, all the yards he's getting, all the touchdowns he's getting, just trying to live up to that. I knew I was the first-round pick, (the Chargers) moved up (16) spots and all that, and I was just trying to do more than what I should have been doing. I think I took all the fun out of it and stressed myself out over it."
Mathews is still the clear No. 1 on San Diego's depth chart; Ronnie Brown is in the twilight of his career, free agent signee Danny Woodhead is more of a part-time, third down style runner, and the rest of the rushers are roster filler.
This year will prove crucial to Mathews' promising career. Another injury-filled campaign could mean the end of his run as a featured back.
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