Miles
Well-known member
- Mar 18, 2019
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"He didn't mandate anything," recalled Ellis, who worked on the business side of the organization. "He made it clear that he was coming in to learn and he was going to listen to Dan Reeves and John Beake on the football side. They were running the whole program at that time, and he deferred to them."
By taking a hands-off approach, Mr. Bowlen allowed his executives and coaches to function properly, and focused on taking care of his players, many of whom recall seeing him placing frozen turkeys in each player's locker prior to Thanksgiving.
"Everybody in the organization was treated like a human being," said Ring of Fame offensive lineman Gary Zimmerman, who was presented by Mr. Bowlen for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2008. "It kind of felt like a family. I wanted to win ballgames for him. He took a chance on me. I was damaged goods. Nobody wanted me for a while. He took a chance with me."
Mr. Bowlen took care of his players. He didn't interfere, but he treated them as people, not as interchangeable parts.
"Pat's a special guy,” Ring of Fame linebacker Karl Mecklenburg said in recent years. “He came in and bought the team from Edgar Kaiser. [For] Edgar Kaiser, it was an investment, right? 'I'm going to buy this team and I'm going to turn it over.' For Pat, it was a passion. He was there all the time. Any time you came in the weight room or the training room, [he'd be there]. He'd be on the sidelines. He'd be all over the place.
“Not only that, but he was involved with his players. He knew you. He knew what your position was on the team as far as leadership, as far as value to the team. He knew your family. I mean, I remember a story Tom Jackson used to tell me about Mr. [Gerald] Phipps. Mr. Phipps was the owner before Edgar Kaiser. Mr. Phipps would come in the locker room and pat you on the back and say, 'Have a good game,' and then he'd look at the back of your jersey so he could see your name and say, 'Have a good game — Jackson.' That's how most NFL owners are. Mr. Bowlen was unbelievable. Pat was so involved and wanted to be part of the game-day activity and everyday activity. He was a special guy that way.”
When the free-agency era dawned in 1993, the Broncos capitalized on the new landscape for team-building, using free agency to supplement the team’s draft-and-develop efforts. Ten of the Broncos’ 22 starters in Super Bowl XXXII joined the team as unrestricted free agents.
One of the most important acquisitions was defensive end Neil Smith. Denver signed him following a stint with the archrival Kansas City Chiefs. Smith frequently wreaked havoc on the Broncos, averaging over one sack per game against them in the previous seven years. Mr. Bowlen had seen Smith’s best, and he expected it to push the Broncos over the top – a point he made clear when they talked in Bowlen’s office after Smith signed his contract.
“I'll tell you what solidified Mr. B, and I think he put a lot of pressure on me as an athlete, and he asked me in the beginning, 'Neil, do you know why you're here?' And I said, 'Yes, Mr. B. I know why I'm here. I'm here to win,’” Smith recalled in recent years. “He said, 'No, you're not here to win. You're here to win it all.'”
Ten months later, Smith, Mr. Bowlen and the Broncos did win it all, defeating Green Bay 31-24 to win Super Bowl XXXII. As Smith celebrated the accomplished mission, Mr. Bowlen’s words echoed through his mind.
“They hand me the trophy, and I stand up with the trophy on a podium, and I'm standing up with it in the press-conference room, and one of Mr. B's guys came to me … and said, 'Mr. B said he would like the trophy now,’” Smith remembered. “I said, 'Give me one second. I will bring it to him.'
“And that moment right there solidified my whole career, because I didn't know if I was going to go any farther, whether I was going to be called back, but I brought this trophy to [him]. I said, 'Mr. B, do you know why I'm here? Here's why I'm here.'”