Shortly after signing a ceremonial contract with the Chargers and announcing his retirement in San Diego, LaDainian Tomlinson has revealed that he also considered signing an actual contract with the Broncos and playing this season in Denver.
Tomlinson told U-T San Diego that he had offers to keep playing if he had wanted to this season, and that the one offer that appealed to him was playing for the Broncos, where he could have been teammates with Peyton Manning.
“The only team I really gave a thought to was the Broncos, because of Peyton,” Tomlinson said. “We talked. . . . It made me pause a little (and think), ‘Was this what I really want to do?’ … I said, ‘They got Peyton, they have a good defense already; they went deep in the playoffs with Tim Tebow, what are they going to do with Peyton?’ I seriously thought about it.”
Chargers fans surely wouldn’t have enjoyed the sight of Tomlinson in an orange uniform, playing against the Chargers twice a season. Tomlinson said that was one of the things he considered when he decided to retire as a Charger rather than keep playing -- he couldn’t picture himself in orange, or in silver and black, for that matter.
“At the end of the day I was thinking, ‘I can’t do that,’” Tomlinson said. “It’s not as bad as being a Raider -- but almost.”
Seeing Tomlinson in a Raiders uniform would have been a strange sight. Almost as strange as seeing Manning in a Broncos uniform.