John Elway pays respects to mentor, friend Pat Bowlen

John Elway and Pat Bowlen were among the most iconic QB-owner pairings in NFL history.
Bowlen, along with his sisters, purchased the Broncos franchise in 1984 — a year later Denver forced the league-altering trade with all the then-Baltimore Colts to acquire Elway. Both then proceeded to combine for five Super Bowl appearances and two championships throughout Elway’s Hall of Fame career on the field, then added an improvement Super Bowl title in 2015 when Elway oversaw the group within an exec.
Bowlen died Thursday at age 75 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease, three years later that last name, and three years later Elway dedicated the win to his longtime friend and mentor by announcing”This one’s for Pat!”
Elway paid his respects.
“Pat gave me so much and he was a person I always looked up to,” Elway said in a statement Friday morning. “He gave this team everything we had to be the best and compete for championships, and also the attention was always on soccer. That’s all you can ask for in an owner — yet he did more. He was a huge mentor to me and a tremendous friend. Pat was a great listener, always asking what was going on, and I heard a lot from watching him. He was a leader that is great. Whether things were going right or things weren’t going right, he would always allow you to know what we needed to get better.
“He did a fantastic job of applying pressure at the appropriate times but always reliable his football people to make the right decisions. Other than his family, nothing meant more to Pat than ensuring that the Denver Broncos were powerful. What he did for this group, this city and the whole NFL will not be matched. His shoes will never be filled.
“I shall miss Pat greatly and will always treasure the times we had together. We are going to continue to take care of his group as if he had been here now. My deepest sympathies are with Annabel and the entire Bowlen family”
Bowlen will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the 2019 course this August at Canton, Ohio.

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