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Tyler Polumbus Believes In Mark Sanchez: 'He's Done A Lot Of Really Good Things'

DENVER (CBS4) - Former Denver Broncos offensive lineman Tyler Polumbus says he's at peace with his decision to retire from playing and looks forward to watching the Broncos try to repeat as Super Bowl champions next season.

"It's a hard decision to make … this is what we've done our entire life; eight years in the NFL, five years in college -- that's the last 13 years of my life I've been playing competitive football, and to walk away from that is hard because a lot of your identity can get wrapped up in football if you're not careful," Polumbus said on Xfinity Monday Live. "But for me the timing was right. I'm at home here in Denver, this is where I was born and bred."

Tyler Polumbus
Tyler Polumbus with CBS4's Mark Haas on Xfinity Monday Live (credit: CBS)

Polumbus, who played for Cherry Creek High School, said he was happy he was able to go out a Super Bowl champ but that didn't figure into his decision to retire.

"I wouldn't say that the Super Bowl was a deciding factor; of course it was amazing. That was a lifelong dream come true," Polumbus said. "Really just being back here in Denver had a lot more to do with it than anything else."

Despite all the shakeup on the Broncos this offseason, Polumbus believes Denver can repeat as Super Bowl champions.

"I told (head coach Gary Kubiak), 'After you win the AFC Championship, call me, I'll come out of retirement for the Super Bowl,'" he said with a laugh.

Currently there are only two quarterbacks on the Broncos -- veteran Mark Sanchez and unproven Trevor Siemian. Polumbus says the quarterback situation has been interesting to watch.

"It will be interesting to see what happens in the draft. I think that if you've got to go into the season wondering who your quarterback is going to be, maybe having a backup QB that may have to start, Mark Sanchez is a really good guy to have. He's done a lot of really good things in this league and he can definitely start," he said. "So it will be interesting to see if he just takes the reins and doesn't let them go.

"I do think that Mark has a lot of experience in this league … shoot, how many times did he go to the playoffs with the Jets? He did a lot of really good things there."

More video of Tad Boyle's appearance on Xfinity Monday Live:

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