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John Elway 'Would Definitely Like to Be Involved' with Possible New Broncos Owners
January 18, 2022
The Denver Broncos franchise reportedly is facing the possibility of being sold this offseason. If that does end up happening, team president John Elway said he'd want to be a part of the new ownership group.
"The Broncos have been in my life for 40 years, so I’d love to be a part of it," Elway told Mike Klis of 9NEWS in Denver. "So it’s a matter of seeing how everything plays out and what’s going to happen. I’m sure there will be a lot of things going on, but I would definitely like to be involved."
According to Klis, Broncos CEO Joe Ellis is expected to make an announcement regarding the potential sale of the team "soon after general manager George Paton hires the team’s next head coach." Ellis is also one of three trustees to the Patrick D. Bowlen Trust that controls the franchise.
Elway said he's not interested in becoming a controlling owner and he'd instead want to have a role that assists the new owner in whatever way he can. Klis noted that Forbes valued the Broncos franchise at $3.75 billion last year.
"I’m not looking to be the face of the franchise," Elway said. "Whoever puts up that kind of money and whoever is that owner, it’s their franchise. It’s their team. My hope would be to help support the new owner."
If Denver is put up for sale, it will reportedly be through auction because it is under the Patrick D. Bowlen Trust. Klis stated that the trustees "would have a fiduciary responsibility to the trust's beneficiaries to go with the highest bidder, pending approval from 24 of the NFL's 32 owners." The beneficiaries are Bowlen's seven children and his brother John.
A first-ballot Hall of Famer, Elway spent his entire 16-year playing career with the Broncos and led the team to five Super Bowl appearances with two title wins. He became the team's general manager in 2011 and helped build a roster that made two more Super Bowl appearances and won the title in 2015.
Elway stepped aside as general manager after the 2020 season but remained the team's president.
"It's been my life, so I'd like to stay involved," Elway said. "We'll see how everything goes but the bottom line is I think I can help the new owner. It should be their club.
"And it’s the coaches, it’s the players, and it’s George’s club. I want to be here in a support role with all the knowledge I have around the league so I can in that area. I don’t want to overshadow an owner."