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Bowlen is hopeful about 24th edition

Lee Rasizer, Rocky Mountain News

Published September 6, 2007 at midnight

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As he begins his 24th season as owner of the Broncos, Pat Bowlen talked with staff writer Lee Rasizer about what he expects from this year's team, his role and the highs and lows of his tenure.

What's your sense moving forward about this year's team?



"I always think we'll be 19-0 and when we lose our first game, we'll be 18-1. But as we sit here today, with the players we have and the coaching staff, I'm cautiously — because I've been burned before — optimistic that we have the right stuff. . . . I'm more comfortable with the football part of this organization than I've been for a long time.



Why?



"It's just a feeling. I don't want to say it's this or that. It's because of the players we have, and there's a lot of new players we have and draft picks. But I have a very optimistic feeling because of the way they seem to be coming together. . . . I think we have a real good group of players and people."



Next year will mark your 25th season owning the Broncos. Is it what you thought it would be way back when?



"I don't think I had any idea going into it in '84 what owning a team would be like, period, whether it was baseball, hockey or whatever. I'd had a short stint in hockey and a really short stint up in Canada in football, but nothing even close to what owning a team in the NFL is like."



Your timing wasn't bad coming in with John Elway coming off his rookie season . . .



"Obviously, having John become the player he became was a huge asset not just to me but to the team and community. We went to five Super Bowls and, obviously, the first three were pretty good thrashings and the last two we won. It's easy to look back at that. But at the time, you don't know what you have. You're excited about what you're doing, and as long as you're winning and it's fun . . . but I can't imagine going through a succession of 5-11 seasons, like some clubs do, how disappointing that would be."



The Broncos haven't had those sustained down times. So what is the worst extended period you've experienced on the field?



"Losing three Super Bowls. And I've said this before, and people have sort of laughed at me a little, but when I think of getting to the Super Bowl and losing, I'd almost rather lose the AFC Championship Game. And maybe that's somewhat due to the way we lost those games and the whole surrounding hype and the rest of the stuff. Even though they say, 'Don't you feel lucky that you got to the Super Bowl. That's pretty good.' For me, they were painful."



But that only made the first Super Bowl victory that much sweeter. What was that celebration like, given the emotional set-up it took to get there?



"It's like all of a sudden you're on a different planet. It's sort of you're somewhere in space looking into it. Super Bowl XXXII (against the Green Bay Packers) was over the top. You don't really come down from that for a while."



Given the feelings back-to-back titles engendered, what have the last several years been like trying but failing to get back to that level?



"Being the eternal optimist I am, I think I'm going to get back there every year. People laugh at me, but what other goal am I supposed to have? To go 10-6 and maybe make the playoffs? I've been to the top of the mountain twice and that's where you want to go. To me, that's the ultimate success. . . . And the drive to do that has to be there. Having not been there for (nearly) 10 years, it becomes more uncomfortable."



What is your biggest day-to-day role with this team?



"I think it's just being here every day and understanding what people are doing, offering whatever insight I can and make sure I have the best coaches and players that I can get."



There was a lot of roster activity this offseason and many checks to write. And on paper, Denver was one of the most aggressive teams in the NFL. Did you ever flinch?



"I don't think there's any other way that you win in today's game, with free agency and the rest of it. You've got to be ready to spend your money. You've got to go after the right players, and sometimes you think a guy's going to help you and you end up wasting a bunch of money. But if you're worrying about what you're spending, then you don't have a chance."



You've talked about the offseason being one of the hardest periods you've ever experienced, with two player deaths. What was the most difficult moment?



"Obviously, the incident on New Year's Eve (the shooting death of Darrent Williams). That's probably the hardest thing that's happened to me in my business career to have a deal like that. I think that the organization has done very well dealing with that. And I think it really helped, I guess, to wake up the National Football League, not that Darrent or 'D-Will' and those guys were doing anything particularly wrong when it happened, but the idea that we were letting our players put themselves in peril, going to inappropriate places, traveling with posses and doing stuff. And the personal conduct that (commissioner) Roger Goodell came up with made it much better. Unfortunately, a very steep price was paid for that."



There will be substantial focus on Jay Cutler's play at quarterback this season in probably the most scrutinized position in Denver sports. What do you like about what you've seen from him and why is he the guy to lead you into the future?



"I'm not comparing him with anybody. He's a different guy than John, with a different personality. But he's got a lot of talent. He can lead. The people we have around him genuinely like him and are responding to him. So you get a real comfortable feeling that he can lead this football team. It's a big, heavy burden. This is only his second year. But as I look at Jay, I see the horsepower that he's going to need to get to where he needs to go. Is he going to get there in one year or is it going to take him three or four or five years? I don't know. But I know he's got the horsepower to do that."



Speaking of Elway, there aren't many players left from the Super Bowl teams. And Rod Smith's hip injury is a reminder that there might not be much time left for those that are still around. Is that a little sad for you?



"You walk through the hallways and see all the pictures and a lot of them are from the Super Bowl years — there's Steve Atwater or John Elway. And you think about that and their careers are over and they're gone and we're dealing with new guys, younger players, etc. But you've got some experience on, 'OK, it takes these kinds of guys in those pictures to take you to the promised land.' And you look for that in the players you have here today. Because I'm a firm believer it's character as much as anything. Talent is important. But character is the No. 1 (criterion)."



And what about the makeup you have this season?



"I really like what I see. And, that's as they say, a preliminary deal. . . . But I spend a lot of time on the football side of the building and the training room. I like what I see."