Denver Broncos To Honor Owner Pat Bowlen With Ring Of Fame Induction

Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen will be inducted in the team’s prestigious Ring of Fame Sunday night. A little more than 15 months after the Denver Broncos announced that CEO Pat Bowlen would have to cut back his involvement with the team because of Alzheimer’s disease, the Broncos are expected to spend a large majority of their weekend honoring their owner of 31 years.

Not only is the team inducting Pat Bowlen into the team’s Ring of Fame, but they are also naming their recently constructed field house after the legendary owner.

Bowlen had to scale back his involvement with the team in the last few years. He eventually made a formal decision to step away from day-to-day administration in July 2014, even though he remained a prominent figure at games through Super Bowl XLVIII.

Since then, it’s rare to see Pat Bowlen at the Broncos’ headquarters. In fact, Bowlen was in the 2014 team photo, but he was not in this year’s photo. Pat’s wife, Annabel, represented him instead. Annabel Bowlen also presented the Broncos’ Ring of Fame inductees last year, which included former head coach Dan Reeves, receiver/punt returner Rick Unchurch, and original kicker/end wide receiver Gene Mingo.

Pat Bowlen was in charge of an NFL organization that Forbes valued at 1.94 billion last month. The Denver Broncos owner was also in command of the team that brought back-to-back Super Bowl titles to Denver in 1997 and ’98. The team also appeared in the championship game six times under his leadership.

One of the great qualities of Pat Bowlen, and what fans and players love about him, is he does not act as if he is above them. Even with the tremendous responsibility and status, players recall Pat Bowlen as a man who acts like just another guy.

Long-time wide receiver Rod Smith said this about Pat Bowlen in an interview on the team website.

“The first time I met him I was scared to death. It was the owner of this billion-dollar corporation known as the Denver Broncos and he was the most humble, down to earth person. And you know what, he knew you. He knew about you, and that made me feel very special.”

There might not be another former player as close to Pat Bowlen as John Elway. The achievements of John Elway and Pat Bowlen are tightly interwoven.

In 1983, a year before Pat Bowlen purchased the Denver Broncos, John Elway was drafted first overall. The Broncos made three trips to the Super Bowl in the late ’80s but lost each time. However, in the tail end of John Elway’s career, the former Denver Broncos quarterback won championship titles in 1997.

Sunday’s ceremony to induct Pat Bowlen into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame will be a particularly touching experience for the former quarterback.

Elway offered a comment on the team’s website about Pat Bowlen’s induction this coming weekend.

“I think the most important thing is Mr. Bowlen going in the Ring of Fame. There’s nobody more deserving as a Denver Bronco than Pat Bowlen for what he’s done for this organization. I think on the football side we’ve talked about the resources and his mentality of wanting to compete and compete for world championships. Thirty years, only five losing seasons, speaks for itself.”

The induction will take place during the Broncos’ game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night. This is an opportunity for the Denver Broncos to prove the team is a contender — that the team is worthy of a 6-0 record.

But beating the Packers requires finding a way to slow Aaron Rodgers. The defending NFL MVP is one of the best quarterbacks today. However, the Broncos have an outstanding defense — one with more takeaways and sacks than any other team in the league. Nevertheless, Aaron Rodgers poses a huge challenge.

Unfortunately, Pat Bowlen is not expected to attend the game or induction ceremony. Though he stepped down as CEO in July 2014, he is highly regarded by both fans and the Denver Broncos organization as the team prepares to induct him into their Ring of Fame at halftime of Sunday night’s game against the Green Bay Packer.

[Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images]