Broncos owner's daughter fires back after being told she's not 'capable or qualified'
One of the biggest strengths of the Denver Broncos has always been stability.
John Elway, of course, is the face of the franchise, beginning with his rookie season in 1983, through a Hall-of-Fame career, two Super Bowl titles as a player, and a third as general manager.
For the past 35 years, the team has had stability in ownership as well, with the Bowlen family overseeing the operation.
In 2014, Pat Bowlen was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and gave control of the team to the Pat Bowlen Trust, which is run by team president Joe Ellis, counsel Rich Slivka and attorney Mary Kelly.
Now, the second-oldest of Pat Bowlen’s seven children, Beth Bowlen Wallace, wants to take over day-to-day operations of the Broncos, but there’s a war of words brewing.
The trust heard of Bowlen Wallace’s interest and issued a statement saying she is “not capable or qualified at this time” to run the team.
Statements from the Pat Bowlen Trust, as well as Broncos President and CEO Joe Ellis, specifically, in response to the press release issued today by Beth Bowlen Wallace…
A lot to unpack here. pic.twitter.com/SeKLpOf8Cz
— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) May 31, 2018
As one would imagine, that hasn’t sat well with Beth.
“I am disappointed and disagree with the inaccurate comments made by the trustees,” she said, according to The Denver Post. “While I can certainly respond to each of those statements, I don’t believe that will be productive.”
CEO Joe Ellis had pointed out that “as a trustee and someone Pat designated to oversee his team, I have an enormous responsibility to carefully administer his succession plan and make decisions in the best interests of the Broncos. We will continue to follow Pat’s blueprint — and nobody else’s — while keeping our focus as an organization on having a successful season.”
The trustees provided the Bowlen family with the criteria Pat wanted in outlining requirements to become the controlling owner.
Those requirements included high-level education, leadership and five years of “senior management experience.”
Bowlen Wallace, though, said she is qualified, with a law degree from the University of Denver, experience with the Broncos and “executive leadership with Reign Energy Partners and Joseph Energy.”
“I want to do what is in the best interests of my family, the team and Denver fans. I care deeply for my entire family and I would never do anything to create divisiveness in the family. It remains my sincere hope that I, together with my advisers, can sit down with the trustees and their advisors to resolve this situation,” she said. “The fans and league deserve this, and we have repeatedly offered to meet with the trustees to accomplish this objective. Therefore, I will not respond to their inaccurate statements at this time.”
Not incidentally, the battle puts Elway in a precarious situation. On Friday, he tweeted out his support of the trust, and specifically Ellis.
I want to make one thing clear about yesterday's news: Joe Ellis is doing an incredible job & I have full confidence in him. He's got all of our support.
Pat put a lot of good people in place to follow his plan, and that's what they're doing.
— John Elway (@johnelway) June 1, 2018
It sounds like this game is in the second half, but it’s far from decided.
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