Cheers and Jeers: A tribute to late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen
Jun 14, 2019, 6:59 AM
Today was supposed to be the unveiling of a new feature for 1043TheFan.com called “Cheers and Jeers,” wherein we salute the best of the sporting world while giving a good-natured ribbing to the less than stellar.
Instead, with the passing of Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen on Thursday night, we’d like to pay tribute to the man who brought so much joy, both on and off the field, to our community.
Here’s to you, Mr. B. Cheers.
Cheers | to Pat Bowlen for tenure as Broncos owner worth of enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The accomplishments Pat Bowlen’s Broncos squads boast include:
– Seven AFC Championships (1986, 1987, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2013 and 2015)
– Three Super Bowl Championships, including back-to-back wins in 1997 and 1998
– More than 10 wins per year on average for the past three and a half decades
– Only seven losing seasons
– The second-best overall winning percentage of all NFL teams (.596, 354-240-1) in the past 35 years
Cheers | to Pat Bowlen for serving as a key figure among the NFL for decades
Bowlen aided in the league negotiating an $18 billion television deal, the most lucrative in history, as the chair of the NFL Broadcast Committee.
He served also served as the co-chair to the NFL Management Council Executive Committee, the NFL Compensation Committee, the NFL Network Committee, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Committee, the NFL Business Ventures Committee, the NFL Finance Committee, the Los Angeles Working Group Committee, and the NFL Workplace Diversity Committee.
Cheers | to Pat Bowlen for leaving an imprint on the Denver community beyond what happened on the gridiron
Bowlen oversaw the donation of nearly $30 million to area organizations since the inception of the Denver Broncos Charity fun in 1993.
For nearly two decades Bowlen served as the honorary chairman of the Colorado Special Olympics, a title he also held with the Stadium Stampede (formerly the Colorado Family Classic) to benefit the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation.
“Not only was Pat a Hall of Fame owner, he was a Hall of Fame person. His competitiveness, kindness and humility are the qualities that I will always remember,” said Broncos CEO and president Joe Ellis in a statement released by the team Friday morning.
