I was listening to Double X Radio out of SD tonight, and a guy called in literally screaming about Tomlinson. (I won't stoop so low as to allow him the initials as those belong to Lawrence Taylor.) The guy was building up Rivers as something dang near a god for playing on two screwed-up knees, while Tomlinson was on the sidelines pouting (and I quote) "like someone stole his lunch money."
I didn't see any shots of this so I can't confirm or deny. The station commentators (including the best I've ever heard) noted that (as alluded to earlier in this thread), the game was essentially DNP-CD. I don't know whether the team is covering for his refusal to re-enter the game or if he was pi$$ed at being held out. The caller expected that if Tomlinson were hurt, he should have been at the sideline leading cheers. To some extent, I agree. The playoffs are not the regular season, and certainly not pre-season exhibitions. As much as I don't like the guy, something can be said in this regard for Rice coming back from his injury in the playoffs.
The hard part about this decision, though, is that it cuts both ways. There have been guys who have tried to play hurt, to the point that their playing has hurt the team, and they were panned for being selfish.
I can see both sides of this argument. I'm not sure where the line should be drawn. But if the medical personnel say that a guy is OK to play in a playoff game, then he [bleep] well better be in and not crying. Especially given the reference in another thread to Youngblood, who played on a freaking broken leg in a Super Bowl.