Longtime Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen passed away Thursday at the age of 75 following a lengthy struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Super Bowl-winning quarterback Peyton Manning shared the Bowlen’s drive to acquire him to register with Denver after his time in Indianapolis ended. Manning expressed his gratitude to the late owner in a statement issued Saturday.
“My deepest sympathies go out to the entire Bowlen family,” Manning explained. “I met Mr. Bowlen for the first time when I played the Indianapolis Colts and that I was in Hawaii in the Pro Bowl if he was there at his eponymous home. I saw him several times throughout the years and had brief, brief conversations with him which I really enjoyed.
“Coming to play here for Denver, though his health was falling, I did enjoy a few discussions with Mr. Bowlen. Within my first year in 2012, I was here a lot in the offseason. As soon as I signed with the Broncos, I was basically living at the facility — studying movie, rehabbing and working out. I was usually one of the last to leave the facility during that time. I say,’I believed I was the last to depart,’ but Mr. Bowlen was still there. He would normally be in the training area on the elliptical, and I would go in there and have discussions with him. He had been asking me when we found a place to live yet, and I recall once I told him we discovered a place to call home, he told me he used to live right near there, and we spoke a bit about that. Just short, brief conversations, and that I enjoyed that time .
“It was an honour to play Mr. Bowlen’s business, as I’ve said several occasions. I always had great respect for the Denver Broncos during my time playing for the Colts competing against his organization. So much of that credit goes to Pat Bowlen and his desire to be the best and to triumph. That had a lot to do with me enrolling up with the Denver Broncos — that I knew Mr. Bowlen was about winning and that I knew the people that he had hired would carry on that tradition and heritage. It was a great decision to come play — we live here now. I’m thankful for Mr. Bowlen and the legacy He’s created with the Broncos, at the NFL and surely in this Denver community. He’ll be missed by many. It was an honor to know Mr. Bowlen and also a real pleasure to have played his team — the Denver Broncos.”
Bowlen will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame together with the 2019 class this August at Canton, Ohio.
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