Two years ago, few people had heard of Vizio Inc., the Irvine TV company. Today, Vizio is one of the biggest — and best selling — brands in big-screen TVs.

You could call Vizio, which became famous for its low-priced plasmas at Costco, an underdog. The company already does. In two years, it’s become the fastest-growing HDTV maker in North America and is ranked No. 3 in shipments and No. 4 in revenue by market researcher DisplaySearch.

After six months of research, its top choice for an endorsement was LaDainian “LT” Tomlinson, last year’s MVP of the National Football League. The football player stopped by Vizio’s headquarters earlier this afternoon to make the partnership official and to wow Vizio’s employees, which number 80 to 90.

(More pics …)

Today, LaDainian may not seem like an underdog. Besides MVP, the San Diego Chargers’ running back was also the 2006 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year. But back on the football team at University High School in Waco, Texas, LaDainian only had two colleges interested in him. He chose Texas Christian University. Wikipedia has more about his tough-luck childhood. The partnership with Vizio was perfect, he told a group of Vizio employees.

“People always say I came out of nowhere and broke all these records. But I had this vision. Vizio is the same. It had a vision,” said the amiable LaDainian, who didn’t mind the numerous photos, autographs and hand shakes.

So, I got to shake his hand. Twice. And ask him a few gadget questions. His current favorite? The new Apple iPhone (no, he didn’t wait in line all night).

“It’s the best phone ever,” he told me. “It’s an iPod, has YouTube…”

(Apple, need another spokesman?)

But what he really loves — and I don’t think Vizio paid him to say this — is high-definition TV. He’s so used to it nowadays, he can’t remember when he had his first HD experience.

“For me, it’s all about sports. You really feel like you’re part of the game,” he said, which I think he means other people can really feel like they’re in his game.

As part of the Vizio/LT union, Vizio is contributing to LaDainian’s charity, the LT Foundation. LaDainian has a soft spot for Boys and Girls Clubs (he used to hang at one when he was a kid). Together, they’ve set up three Vizio Educational Centers at various schools and clubs in Texas. Vizio donated several TVs and LaDainian stops by to talk to the kids.

The organization has also handed out 150 $1,000 scholarships to kids in Texas and San Diego. Not sports scholarships, mind you, but educational ones. Interesting factoid: LaDainian left college to go pro in 2001. But education was important and in 2005, he went back to TCU to get his degree.

All photos by Register photographer Chas Metivier.

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