{"id":1313054,"date":"2019-07-31T15:56:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-31T21:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/hof-preview-bowlen-provided-blueprint-for-owners\/"},"modified":"2019-07-31T15:56:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T21:56:00","slug":"hof-preview-bowlen-provided-blueprint-for-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/hof-preview-bowlen-provided-blueprint-for-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"HOF Preview: Bowlen provided blueprint for owners"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE – In this Aug. 20, 2002, file photo, Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen gestures during a news conference at the team’s headquarters in Denver. The late Pat Bowlen will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on Aug. 3, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ed Andrieski, File)<\/strong>
AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

DENVER \u2014 John Elway is glad he had the chance to return the favor and dedicate a championship to his beloved boss 18 years after Pat Bowlen jabbed the Super Bowl 32 trophy into the San Diego night and hollered, \u201cThis \u2026 one\u2019s \u2026 for \u2026 John!\u201d<\/p>\n

Elway called it the greatest moment of his career, and when Denver beat Carolina in Super Bowl 50, the Broncos QB-turned-GM couldn\u2019t wait to hoist the Lombardi Trophy and howl, \u201cThis \u2026 one\u2019s \u2026 for \u2026 Pat!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was my goal when I took the job,\u201d said Elway, who considers himself \u201cthe luckiest guy in the world to get an opportunity to play for him and also get an opportunity to come back and work for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowlen, who died in June at age 75 , will be posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend, honored for helping the NFL usher in billion-dollar television deals and for turning the Broncos into a model franchise with as many Super Bowl appearances (seven) as losing seasons since buying the team in 1984.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can remember the hug with him in the locker room\u201d after that first championship, which followed three Super Bowl blowouts, said Elway, who helicoptered his way into history in leading Denver past Green Bay 31-24.<\/p>\n

A year later, Bowlen dedicated Denver\u2019s 34-19 win over Atlanta in Super Bowl 33 to the fans.<\/p>\n

By the time the Broncos won their third title, Bowlen was homebound, forced by Alzheimer\u2019s to step down from his daily duties running the franchise. Team president, CEO and confidante Joe Ellis took the trophy to Bowlen\u2019s house when the team flew back to Colorado.<\/p>\n

Three years later, Ellis and Steve Atwater, one of Bowlen\u2019s favorite players, informed Bowlen he was a Hall of Fame contributor nominee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI strongly believe that he knew that he got into the Hall of Fame,\u201d said Brittany Bowlen, the owner\u2019s 29-year-old daughter who aims to one day assume controlling ownership. \u201cHe had a really big smile when he found out. And I find that a real blessing to know that he knew.\u201d<\/p>\n

Presenting Bowlen, the first of the Hall\u2019s 326 members to die in the roughly six months between election and induction, is longtime head trainer Steve \u201cGreek\u201d Antonopulos, the only fulltime employee who worked for the Broncos during Bowlen\u2019s entire tenure as owner.<\/p>\n

Bowlen always began his day stopping by the trainer\u2019s room for updates.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody cared more about players than Mr. Bowlen,\u201d Antonopulos said. \u201cHe liked to communicate with them, not because he wanted to rub elbows, but because he cared about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall of Famer Gary Zimmerman realized Bowlen wasn\u2019t your typical team owner his first Thanksgiving in Denver when he found a sign-up sheet for a turkey, surely a prank on the rookies and other newcomers like himself. What the heck, he figured he\u2019d play along, so he scribbled his name.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I come into the locker room,\u201d Zimmerman recounted, \u201cand there\u2019s Pat sticking turkeys into our lockers.\u201d<\/p>\n

A billionaire businessman whose family made its fortune in oil, gas and real estate, Bowlen just wanted to be one of the guys. A competitive triathlete, Bowlen often was found on the StairMaster in the weight room, drenched in sweat when he wasn\u2019t on the sideline checking out practice.<\/p>\n

If Bowlen\u2019s competitiveness set the standard, his style set the tone.<\/p>\n

Remember him on the sideline, arms crossed, sporting sunglasses, a mink coat and that stoic look? His team embraced that image.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs players we thought, \u2018This dude is a cool dude as our owner,\u2019\u201d Elway said. \u201cWe all thought we were kind of hip because of Pat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowlen served on more than a dozen NFL committees, including the competition and broadcast groups that played key roles in the game\u2019s soaring popularity.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted to do the best thing for the league and he didn\u2019t want any credit for it,\u201d former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t take a whole lot of accolades, but he did a whole lot of work. And I think that was Pat in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in Bowlen he found a kindred spirit, one who recruited him in selecting dark horse candidate Paul Tagliabue as commissioner in 1989, and in bringing Rupert Murdoch and Fox aboard as a broadcast partner in 1993.<\/p>\n

Patriots owner Robert Kraft said, \u201cThere was no owner or person like Pat Bowlen. I loved him. \u2026 He was relentless in his competitive desire to win, but he was always a gentleman, a professional and a trusted partner. He was a leader both in his success and in his kindness and humility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowlen had every right to boast, suggested fellow 2019 Hall of Fame inductee Champ Bailey.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had the style for it, he had the charisma for it,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cIt\u2019s just, what does that really bring to the team? Nothing, really. I loved that about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

A fierce but friendly competitor, Bowlen provided a blueprint for ownership in professional sports, suggested Jaguars owner Shahid Khan.<\/p>\n

\u201cA huge reason I came to Denver was I knew Mr. Bowlen was all about winning,\u201d Peyton Manning said.<\/p>\n

Outside the team\u2019s locker room is a large image of Bowlen and his signature saying, \u201cI want us to be number one in everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

That included player relations.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe ran this football team with his heart and not his pocketbook,\u201d Elway said, a sentiment to which Ellis can attest. \u201cHe wanted to rip up everybody\u2019s contract all the time to give them more money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellis said Bowlen\u2019s competitive streak was especially evident on game day when \u201cPat had those binoculars to his eyes with fire burning through them until the gun sounded.\u201d<\/p>\n

He remembered a 41-14 win at Oakland. Late in the game, Ellis told Bowlen he could go ahead and relax.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me tell you how many games I\u2019ve enjoyed over the years,\u201d Bowlen interrupted. \u201cI\u2019ve got this anxiety level and until the gun sounds, it\u2019s never over. But I can count on one hand how many games I actually recall that I can fully enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

A sly smile came next.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight\u2019s one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowlen split his offseasons between Denver and Hawaii, and every year he\u2019d take his players out canoeing, golfing and dining at one of his restaurants during Pro Bowl week. Those are the only times Elway ever saw Bowlen show off.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was proud of his restaurants,\u201d Elway said. \u201cBut you know what? He\u2019d walk in that restaurant and he was more proud of the guys he was walking in with. Not too many times did we have a private room. We sat out in the public and he enjoyed that.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FILE – In this Aug. 20, 2002, file photo, Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen gestures during a news conference at the team’s headquarters in Denver. The late Pat Bowlen will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on Aug. 3, 2019. (AP Photo\/Ed Andrieski, File)AP | AP DENVER \u2014 John […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1313054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-21 14:50:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1313054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313054\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1313054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1313054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1313054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}