When longtime Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen stepped down after announcing that he is battling Alzheimer’s disease, it proved to be a big loss for the NFL.
Mr. Bowlen has been, simply put, one of the best owners in the league over the past three decades. In an era of instability, the Broncos have had continuity for the better part of his stewardship. As an owner, he has had over 300 regular wins, along six Super Bowl appearances and two Lombardi Trophies.
Bowlen helped keep this team afloat when he bought the team from Edgar Kaiser in 1984.
There have only been five head coaches in his tenure as owner (not including Eric Studeville). He has only made two mistakes as far as coaches are concerned. His first mistake was keeping Mike Shanahan around for as long as he did. The other mistake that Bowlen made was hiring Josh McDaniels. Bowlen gave McDaniels too much power before he was ready and the results were disastrous.
After the mediocrity, Bowlen made a smart move and hired John Elway to run the football side of the team. It has proven to be an inspired choice so far. Elway went for a solid candidate as the next coach when he hired John Fox in 2011.
Fox has proven to be a good choice and is still coaching the team in 2014.
It was Elway who was able to bring in Peyton Manning in 2012 and he also built the current Super Bowl-contending roster that Denver has. He has managed the salary cap well, and signed good players such as DeMarcus Ware to cap-friendly deals.
A rebuild is inevitable after Manning leaves, but Elway has proven that he is pretty good at evaluating talent. I think that Broncos will be fine.
Pat Bowlen has left a great legacy with the Denver Broncos and John Elway will continue it in the years to come.
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