SAN DIEGO -- Philip Rivers had the best seat in the house when Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson played for the San Diego Chargers.

The Chargers will retire Tomlinson’s No. 21 jersey on Sunday at halftime of the team’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the fourth number retired by the franchise, joining Lance Alworth (19), Dan Fouts (14) and the late Junior Seau (55). Tomlinson also becomes the 38th person inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame.

Teammates celebrate with LaDainian Tomlinson after he broke the NFL single-season record for touchdowns. He finished the 2006 season with 31, a mark that still stands. Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

Rivers said three things stood out that made Tomlinson one of the best running backs ever to play the game.

The first was the way he practiced.

“He ran as close to game speed as possible, made those cuts and finished down the field,” Rivers said. “He liked to practice breaking long runs. Even in practice when the whistle had blown and nobody was chasing him, he would often finish through a scrum.”

The second was Tomlinson’s ability to see the field and anticipate where the opening would be in the defense.

“He had just a knack with his vision,” Rivers said. “He would probably say a lot of it was God-given and just athletic ability. But I think also he studied it. He studied how guys were going to play certain things. Where is the linebacker going to bubble over the top when the guard pulls -- all those things allowed him to already make the cut before he had to make it.”

And finally, Tomlinson’s ability to catch the ball out of the backfield stood out for Rivers. Tomlinson finished his career with 624 catches for 4,772 yards and 17 touchdown receptions. Only Marshall Faulk has more catches among the top 10 all-time leading rushers.

With the Chargers retiring his number this weekend, here are Tomlinson’s top five moments with the Chargers:

No. 5: Tomlinson showed he was a special back early in his career, rushing for 113 yards on 36 carries and two touchdowns in his NFL debut against the Washington Redskins, a 30-3 victory on Sept. 9, 2001. Tomlinson finished with 1,236 yards that season, which still stands as the rookie, single-season rushing record in franchise history.

No. 4: “He was a Raider destroyer,” said tight end Antonio Gates about his former teammate. Tomlinson seemed to have some of his best games against the AFC West rival Oakland Raiders. Tomlinson finished his career with 2,055 yards and 22 touchdowns against the Raiders -- the most against one team. The Chargers finished 14-5 in those contests. One of those impressive performances came on Dec. 28, 2002, when Tomlinson rushed for a career-best 241 rushing yards and two touchdowns in a 21-14 win over the Raiders.

No. 3: Tomlinson was not only an excellent runner and pass-catcher, but he could throw the ball as well. Tomlinson completed 8 of 12 passes for 143 yards and seven touchdowns during his career, finishing with a 146.9 passer rating. On Sept. 25, 2005, Tomlinson totaled 192 rushing yards and three touchdowns in a 45-23 win over theNew York Giants. Tomlinson also threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Keenan McCardell.

No. 2: Tomlinson captured the first of back-to-back rushing titles during the 2006 season. He sealed his first by rushing for 66 yards on Dec. 31, 2006, in a 27-20 win over theArizona Cardinals. Tomlinson finished with a career-best 1,815 yards in a single season. He followed that up the following year by rushing for 1,474 yards in 2007, earning his second NFL rushing title.

No. 1: Tomlinson’s top NFL moment was breaking the single-season touchdown record previously held by Shaun Alexander on Dec. 10, 2006 in a 48-20 win over the Broncos. “It meant a lot,” Gates said. “When you see all of us gathering together to pick him up, it was a statement about what we stood for. At that particular time the running game was the cornerstone for what we did offensively.” Tomlinson rushed for 103 yards and three touchdowns on the day, and finished with 31 total touchdowns on the year, a single-season record that still stands.