From The Associated Press

WACO, Texas — The father of NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson was killed Friday when the pickup truck in which he was riding blew a tire and flipped on a highway.

Oliver Tomlinson was killed at about 1:30 p.m. in the one-vehicle rollover, said Charlie Morgan, a Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman.

Tomlinson was 71.

The driver, Ronald C. McClain was rushed by ambulance to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, where he later died, Morgan said. The 48-year-old McClain was believed to be a relative of Tomlinson’s, Morgan said.

Witnesses reported that a tire on the 1969 Chevrolet truck blew, causing the truck to swerve out of control and flip over near an intersection east of Waco near Asa. Both men were thrown from the truck, Morgan said.

Jewel Tomlinson, Oliver’s wife and LaDainian’s stepmother, said her husband and McClain had been returning to Waco after a trip to the family home in Tomlinson Hill, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported in its online edition Friday.