WACO, Texas (KWTX) A movie hitting theaters in Waco, Belton, Harker Heights and Waco and across the nation Friday will feature a familiar face from Central Texas known for his play on the gridiron as an NFL Hall of Famer.
LaDainian Tomlinson plays a pastor in the movie “God Bless the Broken Road.” (Studio photo)
“Listen, I’m a rookie at this so I still have a lot to learn,” LaDainian Tomlinson said Thursday when asked about the role by a reporter for the San Diego Chargers, the team with which he played the majority of his 11-season career.
“It was foreign to me. Being a running back came natural to me but acting is something that is not natural, you got to work on it.”
Tomlinson’s debut on the big, big screen comes Friday as the University High School graduate tackles the role of a pastor in a movie about a young mother who loses her husband to the war in Afghanistan called “God Bless the Broken Road.”
“I read the script I went over it and over it and I practiced and practiced. It takes a lot of practice just to remember your lines.”
Tomlinson said he’s always dreamed of acting, but this role fell flat in his lap and seemed like the perfect fit.
“It’s my first one but for me what caught my eye, what made me want to be a part of this project is parts of the proceeds from the film is being donated to a group called DAV, Disabled American Vets.”
The role of Pastor Williams in the film also seemed fitting for the Rosebud native because his mother was a minister and made sure Tomlinson was in church every Sunday morning.
As a young boy that led him to the pews of Pastor Ronnie Jerrett’s Bible Way Church Family Worship Center in Marlin.
When reached by phone, Jarrett said he didn’t know about Tomlinson’s movie but wasn’t surprised at the role.
“He grew up in our church when he was a kid,” Jerrett said.
“I baptized him when he was 12.”
The family moved From Marlin to Waco and back before returning to Waco a final time just before Tomlinson’s sophomore year of high school.
Following graduation from University High School, Tomlinson joined the TCU Horned Frogs before football took him to an 11-year career in the NFL.
He retired in 2012.