Longtime Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen passed away Thursday at age 75 after having a protracted struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Super Bowl-winning quarterback Peyton Manning shared the Bowlen’s push to acquire him to sign 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 household,” Manning explained. “I met Mr. Bowlen for the very first time when I played the Indianapolis Colts and that I had been over in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl if he was there in his Hawaiian home. I saw him several times throughout the years and had brief, short conversations with him which I actually enjoyed.
“Coming to play here for Denver, though his health was declining, I did like a couple of conversations with Mr. Bowlen. I was here a whole lot in the offseason. The moment I signed with the Broncos, I was living in the facility — analyzing movie, rehabbing and exercising. I was usually among the last to leave the facility during this time. I say,’I believed I had been the last to depart,’ but Mr. Bowlen was still there. He would usually be in the practice area on the elliptical, and I would go in there and have conversations with him. He was asking me when we found a place to live yet, and I remember once I told him we discovered a place to live, he said he used to live right near there, and we talked a bit about that. Just short, short conversations, and that I enjoyed that time with him.
“It was an honour to perform Mr. Bowlen’s organization, as I’ve said numerous times. I always had great respect for the Denver Broncos during my time playing with the Colts competing against his organization. So a lot of that credit goes to Pat Bowlen and also his desire to be the best and to triumph. That had a lot to do with me signing up with the Denver Broncos — which I knew Mr. Bowlen was about winning and that I knew the people he had hired would carry on that tradition and legacy. It was a great decision to come play here — we live here now. I’m grateful for Mr. Bowlen and the heritage that he’s created with the Broncos, at the NFL and certainly within this Denver community. Many will miss him. It was an honour to understand Mr. Bowlen and a true joy to have played his group — the Denver Broncos.”
Bowlen will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the 2019 class this August at Canton, Ohio.

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