There are irons in the fire for Tyler Polumbus. Multiple, apparently, because his past month away from a daily radio show has included both spending time with family and fielding phone calls from potential employers. It feels like Polumbus won’t be on the sidelines much longer, and when you see him reemerge, it’s likely it’ll be in a very familiar market.
“I’m in the midst of figuring things out, so I can’t be totally blunt, but I know I love radio,” said Polumbus. “I love the Denver market. This has been a dream. I’m a hometown kid, I grew up here, played at The University of Colorado and for the Broncos, along with a few other teams. I’ve gotten to spend the last five or six years in this market. I don’t have any intentions of leaving. I plan on being a name that’s in this market for a long time. Just continuing to pursue whatever options might be there.”
Polumbus hosted his last radio show nearly a month ago at 104.3 The Fan in Denver. In a tweet, Polumbus said his contract had come to an end, thus ending his time at the station. Being in the middle of the grind during football season, and suddenly seeing it end, undoubtedly put Polumbus in an interesting situation, but he’s enjoyed what the past few weeks have given him.
“The last couple of weeks have been exciting to see the all of support I have out there,” Polumbus said. “I’ve just been flooded with phone calls and text messages from friends, family, listeners but also learning that there are other opportunities out there. There’s a lot of emotions that goes into a change like this, but right now I’m in a state of excitement, because I’ve got a couple of irons in the fire and I’m really excited to see where they go.”
Polumbus is keeping his options open. Heck, any talent looking to get back in the game would be. But there’s something to be said about his desire to get back on a radio show. He brings personality to the show, and it seems that’s what Polumbus likes the best about the radio business. There’s a personality with radio you just can’t replace.
“I definitely have interest in pursuing broadcasting, but my bread and butter will always be radio, because it’s just a different format and it’s so much fun,” Polumbus said. “You just have more space to breathe and enjoy the moment. I’ll pursue broadcasting in the future, but terrestrial radio, that’s still where I want to be for now.”
There are a lot of things working in favor of Polumbus right now. For starters, he’s a hometown kid that played football at both CU and the Broncos. Plus, he won a Super Bowl. That’s attractive to potential employers in an NFL market. He’s also very talented on the air and understands Denver. You’ll probably never hear him do an entire segment on the colleges or high schools in the state, but if it comes up during a segment, he can easily offer up something of interest. He knows the ins and outs of the market.
There’s something else that works in his favor. Sports gambling is legal and booming across the state. That means additional opportunities are available, compared to other markets where it’s not yet legalized. Could that be a space Polumbus pursues?
“I have a partnership right now with SuperBook Sports,” he said. “I already do stuff with them and that’s something I have a lot of fun with. Sports gambling was kind of like the gold rush here in Colorado over the last few years. It felt like there were opportunities all over the place. I’m very fortunate to be teamed up with a great family at SuperBook Sports. They’ve been absolutely tremendous and they’re going to allow me to have a creative platform to do a lot of fun things, whether that’s web shows, clips that I put on Twitter, there’s lots of opportunities there.”
The Broncos are the big ticket item in Denver, and Polumbus is likely remembered most for being on the team that won Super Bowl 50. But Boulder is a short drive away from Denver. Granted, CU and college football just doesn’t move the needle as much as the Broncos, but he’s a former player that still has a passion for the program. It seems reasonable that being involved with CU could be an opportunity for him.
“I always joke I was born a Buff, I was raised to be a Buff and I became a Buff,” Polumbus said. “I was a second generation football player at CU. I’ll always bleed black and gold and I’ll always have interest in being a part of that. Gary Barnett was my coach and he’s on the call with Mark Johnson. Both of those guys, I’m fortunate to call both my friends. Andy Lindahl and Bobby Pesavento, they’ve been on the sidelines with those two guys for years and years, so I don’t know what opportunities may or may not be there, but I would always have interest in being a part of something with the Buffs.”
Regardless of where he lands, Polumbus has a following and will undoubtedly bring them to his next stop. Many people in the Denver market seem to be pulling for him, and a big reason for that could be the likeability factor he’s built up for himself over the past several years.
How has he done that? There are a few ways, but mostly because he humanized himself with the Pedal with Polumbus movement that has raised money and brought awareness to ovarian cancer. It’s a fundraiser event that has grown significantly each of the past three years. Polumbus never started it with the idea to make himself more likable to the Denver audience. That was never, and still isn’t his intention. But regardless, people respect and admire what he’s done with the event.
“I’ve always taken my platform seriously,” Polumbus said. “Whether that’s as a college player, NFL player or on the radio. I’ve always wanted to do good with it. When I was in the NFL my wife and I started a foundation called Tyler’s Kids Outreach. We worked with a lot of kids that were dealing with major medical concerns. On the radio, I lost my mom to Stage 4 ovarian cancer after a six year battle. I retired, I had to lose a bunch of weight, I got on a bike, I never was a cyclist but I got on a bike during retirement and it was the first thing I challenged myself with after retiring.”
“I lost my mom to ovarian cancer and figured I wanted to do something good with it. It’s been so amazing to look back on what we’ve been able to do. Started in the middle of the pandemic and that year I rode by myself, because we couldn’t have riders out. I rode 100 miles around Mile High by myself just raising awareness for ovarian cancer. I went in a circle around the tarmac for about six or seven hours. That year we raised like $60,000, year two we raised like $130,000 and this last year we got a bunch of corporate money involved, mainly Safeway and we were able to raise over $600,000 this year. It’s just been my pride and joy to use my platform for something that means a lot.”
Tyler McComas is a columnist for BSM and a sports radio talk show host in Norman, OK where he hosts afternoon drive for SportsTalk 1400. You can find him on Twitter @Tyler_McComas or you can email him at TylerMcComas08@yahoo.com.
