That gets to the heart of the matter Bronco Man. Great history lesson for me, who, being from Australia, and only supporting the Broncos for the last 10 years, gives me great prespective.
Bowlen is a class act.
Kudos to him, you and Shanny!

I grew up in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area and saw up close the difference between a great owner (Jack Kent Cooke) and a joke of an owner, see here and here (Daniel Snyder). The Redskins organization hasn’t seen stability since the late Mr. Cooke passed away. I’m so grateful we don’t have to experience those kind of “growing pangs” with our owner. Bowlen is classy, professional and—get this—a real executive who knows his role and responsibilities. Again, great post!

For the record, Wisconsin might as well be Canada and that means this.

Shanny in his presser emphasized more than once that Pat is the best owner in the league. Whether this decision works out or not, PB is doing it for one reason only—that in his judgment it’s the best choice for the Denver Broncos. This isn’t about egos or being unable to get along. This isn’t about meddling or panicking or being swayed by fans or evil voices inside his head. And if it does work out, and we’re hoisting the Lombardi within a couple years, let’s all remember to hoist one of our own for Mr. Bowlen!

good histoy lesson!

In fact, I copied it over to BroncosForums.com . (I already had Guru’s written permission to do that, of course.)

I believe Shanny was very sincere when he said the Broncos organization is the best on in sports, and that Mr. Bowlen is the best owner in sports. The two go hand-in-hand: The Broncos are the best because Mr. Bowlen is. How many owners would have the heart to grow so close to his coach that he weeps over the departure of the man he just fired?

Yes, Pat Bowlen, this next one is for you!

Two good men, in a hard spot, handling it like the champions they are.

Best of Luck to both of them. And may we fine as good of coach to replace the fantastic man going out.

I remember when you wouldnt be caught in Lodo after dark. I remeber those morons seeling the Rockies to Jersey. (still my favorite AV moment is beating the Devils for the cup) Kaiser did 1 good thing in his ownership of Denver, trading for Elway. But was and is a piece of crap. Bowlen is a great owner and will get the Broncos another couple of rings. I have new found respect for Pat after this week. I know it had to kill him inside to fire Mike. I dont agree with it, but what it shows to me is his desire to win a bowl now. Denver right now has a Super Bowl caliber defense, and a Lionsesque defense. If Denver can get 3 players on defense and their fortunes will change. (DT,MLB, SS). This team is gonna be better next season

to fire Mike Shanahan. Did Pat act with the best interests of the organization at heart? Yes. Do I believe his motives were pure? Yes. Do I think it was a blunder of epic proportions? Yes. Pat is a class guy. This is a class organization. I just feel that, given the status of this team – the talent, progress and overall direction – this was an aweful move at this time. You are bringing in all of these guys, giving them 1 or2 years in a system and then flipping the world upside down on them. Shame shame pat.

I’m only old enough to remember the Bowlen era, thanks for the reminder. I live in San Diego these days and they have two awful owners.

From what I can gather, Pat is not planning to overhaul the offense, and the guys in place will maintain continuity on O. The change is clearly intended to bring in a Defensive guy to make our D look like our O in terms of talent. As much as I will miss Shanahan, a new start may prove best for both parties. Shanny can pick his job, hopefully in the NFC, and will be back with a desire to prove his critics wrong, and Denver with a D is scary prospect for the rest of the league, and a joy for all of us.

I worry about the decision to let Shannahan go, but there is something to be said about getting stale. A change may very well settle the question, if there ever was one, that Shanahan is a h.o.f. (de-emphasis added) caliber coach.

And maybe some fresh ideas will spark a resurgence of the defense. Outside the start of the season a couple of years ago, I think weaker defense has always been a hallmark of the Shanahan Broncos.

I am a Shanahan fan because of his dedication to excellence in execution, but the same criteria could also be applied to Pat Bowlen.

I will disagree with…

For those of you too young to remember, but Pat Bowlen bought the Broncos from one of the worst owners we every had in Kaiser in 1984 and saved the team from bankruptcy. Hard to believe, but there was a time when the Broncos could have been bankrupt and possibly moving to a different city.

Worst Owners? I certainly wouldn’t say that. Edgar the Kaiser was a Businessman. Kaiser bought the Broncos from the Phipps Family in 1981 for $30 million. He knew that he needed a winning team to profit. First he fired Gherke and hired Grady Alderman as GM. Then he fired Red Miller (8-8 in 1980) and hired Dan Reeves as the HC who brought the team to 10-6 in 1981.

The strike in 82 hurt his cash flow and so he decided to sell. The team was not in risk of bankruptcy or insolvent, but he did lose money in 82. Kaiser knew he needed more than just a new front office or Head Coach. Denver went 2-7 in the strike year in 82. He had an outside interest that he tried to sell the team to for $54M, but the deal fell through. The scare was that Kaiser would sell the team to a buyer that would move the team. Kaiser was a businessman and he realized the best way to profit was to improve the team. It was Edgar Kaiser by himself that made the deal with Irsay to trade for Elway in 1983.

After Denver went 9-7 in 83, the franchise made a $6mil profit, but Kaiser still wanted to sell. Kaiser first sold a minority (39.2%) of the team to Bob Adams, a friend of Dan Reeves for $10M. It was Adams that first kept Kaiser afloat. Now with the Broncos coming off a playoff season, with a new Franchise QB and Coaching staff, the Organization was more appealing.

Kaiser could have stayed as the majority owner, but now he was looking at a 100% return if he could get his price. In comes Pat Bowlen in 1984. Kaiser sold to the other 60.8% to him for $51M. So essentially Kaiser was here for 3 only three years. In that time, he assembled Reeves and a completely new staff, then getting Elway for a combination that would eventually bring Denver to three Super Bowls in the 80’s. (And yes, he doubled his investment in three years)

I believe the negativity surrounding Kaiser mostly surrounds his attempt to buy back part ownership of the team after Bowlen considered selling 10% to Elway. As an owner for three short years, Edgar the Kaiser did a lot for the success that Denver enjoyed for years to come, and Bowlen has been excellent from the beginning.

It’s hard to imagine, but Denver was seen as some dusty Cowtown that people from Texas flew into to go skiing, and not worthy of a NFL franchise

Maybe some people saw it that way, but Denver and the front range was and still is a major metro city. Being a Denver Native and keen about Mile High’s image, that Cowtown label for an NFL Franchise went away after Super Bowl XII. In 1984, the economy was well past the dismal days of the Carter Administration and wasn’t that bad. The Nation was pulling out of the recession with Reagan, and everything was looking up in 1984. Even during Carter, there was never a lapse of Bronco Home game sellouts.

In my opinion, the worst ownership was Howsam, the original Owner. He was cheap and did not invest as much as other AFL owners such as Baron Hilton. In 1965, it was the Phipps Brothers that came in to save the Broncos from being moved or folding. Phipps kept the Broncos here and paid the price to sign our first number one Draft Pick (Floyd Little) in 1968.

I agree that Bowlen has been the best Owner, but besides Howsam, none of the owners have been bad. As a Bronco Fan, I feel we have been blessed – including Kaiser.

Howsam 1959-1965
Phipps Bros 1965-1981
Kaiser 1981-1984
Bolwen 1984-current.