Another prominent member of the NFL’s old guard of owners officially left the scene Wednesday when Pat Bowlen surrendered control of the Broncos because of his battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Bowlen, 70, rescued the team out of a possible bankruptcy in 1984 and saw the Broncos go to six Super Bowls — winning two — in his 30 years of ownership.
Bowlen had been rumored to be in poor health for several years in league circles, and he finally acknowledged the speculation by putting the Broncos into a trust controlled by non-family members and turning over authority on all team-related decisions to club president Joe Ellis.
Bowlen’s family stressed the iconic franchise will not be sold and said Bowlen created the trust in the early 2000s with the intention of having one of his seven children own the team and run it when they are deemed capable.
“What a sad day it is around here,” Broncos executive vice president John Elway said at an emotional news conference Wednesday afternoon at the team’s headquarters. “This place will never be the same. I can say that, at least from the inside out, it’ll never be the same.
“But Mr. Bowlen has entrusted [Ellis] to take his spot, and he couldn’t have appointed a better guy to step in for Pat.”
Bowlen, the Wisconsin-born son of an oil baron who later became wealthy on his own as an attorney in Canada, emerged as one the league’s most respected owners after rescuing the Broncos from the financial woes of previous owner Edgar Kaiser.
Bowlen inherited Elway, who was obtained in a trade with the Colts in 1983, then watched as the quarterback led his team to five Super Bowl appearances over the next 15 years.
After a string of embarrassing Super Bowl blowout losses in the late 1980s, Elway and the Broncos finally broke through with back-to-back championships in the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
With Bowlen’s exit, the ranks of longtime owners in the NFL continue to thin. Just in the past two years, control of the Titans changed hands after Bud Adams’ death and the Bills were put up for sale following the death of Ralph Wilson in March.
Jets receiver Eric Decker was a Bronco for four seasons, said he prayed Bowlen would be able to continue to enjoy his life with his family.
“It’s tough,” Decker said. “[Bowlen] made it real easy to want to come to work, to have success, to be comfortable. … You could just tell the kind of man he is to step down and get out of the way of what they’re still wanting to do. Obviously, he’ll always be a presence there. … His family is always there and they’re tremendous.”
The Broncos said they plan to honor Bowlen this season, perhaps by inducting him into the team’s Ring of Fame or naming their new indoor practice facility after him.
“My family is deeply saddened that Pat’s health no longer allows him to oversee the Broncos, which has led to this public acknowledgment of such a personal health condition,” Bowlen’s wife, Annabel, said in a statement. “Alzheimer’s has taken so much from Pat, but it will never take away his love for the Denver Broncos and his sincere appreciation for the fans.”
— Additional reporting by Brian Costello