Apparently, it almost happened. According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune, Tomlinson said he considered Denver before he announced his retirement on monday. Tomlinson goes on to say that, he only considered the Denver Broncos because of recently acquired QB, Peyton Manning.

"The only team I really gave a thought to was the Broncos, because of Peyton," Tomlinson said Saturday, referring, of course, to Denver’s signing of quarterback Peyton Manning. "We talked. Tom (Condon, Tomlinson’s agent) talked with them ... 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."

Tomlinson seriously thought about Denver because, now that he is retired, there will only be one thing missing from his resume as one of the NFL's all time great running backs: a Super Bowl Championship. Tomlinson said he only played his final two seasons with the New York Jets, because he was still holding out hope of winning a Super Bowl. His desire of a Super Bowl ring made Tomlinson consider to play one final season with the Denver Broncos, but ultimately he decided to retire.

"That was the only reason I considered Denver," he said. "At the same time, I thought, ‘How much is a Super Bowl ring really going to do for you at this point?’ Because it’s not with the team I really wanted to do it with.

I told LT on Saturday I needed a moment to get my head around the fact it was even a possibility he would wear orange.

"Exactly!" he said, laughing like he does and actually hitting my arm. "I know. And you know what? At the end of the day I was thinking, ‘I can’t do that.’ It’s not as bad as being a Raider -- but almost