Bowlen family say they were excluded from Broncos’ celebrations

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Members of former Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen’s family say they were excluded from this weekend’s celebrations to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Super Bowl 50 winners as well as wide receiver Demaryius Thomas’ addition to the team’s ring of fame.

None of Bowlen’s children, the family says, were invited to a Saturday night dinner or events at Empower Field before Sunday’s game against the New York Giants as well as at halftime. Bowlen’s tenure of three-plus decades included as many Super Bowl trips as losing seasons, seven of the franchise’s eight Super Bowl trips overall and all three Super Bowl wins, including Super Bowl 50.

Two of Bowlen’s daughters, Brittany and Annabel, said in a statement Saturday: “We would have loved to have been part of this weekend’s reunions and events. We will always be proud and continue to celebrate what our father and this team built together.”

Bowlen had seven children, two with first wife Sally Parker and five with second wife, Annabel Bowlen. Pat Bowlen stepped away from the day-to-day operations just before the 2014 season after he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. He died in 2019 at age 75.

Bowlen is also a member of the team’s ring of fame — an honor he created in 1984 to honor the best of the team’s former players, coaches and team executives. Family members for ring of famers who have died are routinely invited to the weekend’s events when new additions are made.

The elder Annabel Bowlen — mother of statement authors Brittany and Annabel — was also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, in 2018, so Bowlen’s children would have had to represent the family at any of the events this weekend.

The Broncos, through a spokesperson, declined comment and said the reunion is focused on honoring the players and coaches from Super Bowl 50. The Broncos will recognize Pat Bowlen and others from that year who have died since that season during Saturday evening’s reception.

Each ring of famer for the Broncos has a pillar, with a plaque, in the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame plaza outside Empower Field at Mile High. Thomas’ will be unveiled before Sunday’s game in a ceremony open to the public and will be attended by Thomas’ family as well as many of his former teammates.

Thomas’ name will be unveiled on the stadium facade as well at halftime. The Super Bowl 50 team, with some 42 players and coaches in attendance, also will be honored at halftime. Most of Thomas’ career with the Broncos — 2010-18 — was during Bowlen’s tenure as well.

“It was players like Demaryius Thomas who inspired our dad to create the Ring of Fame. D.T., beyond his talent on the field, led with joy, humility and kindness and embodied what it meant to be a Denver Bronco,” Brittany and Annabel Bowlen said in their statement.

The Walton-Penner group was formally approved by the NFL in 2022 as the Broncos’ new owners after the group spent a record $4.65 billion to purchase the team. Greg Penner and Carrie Walton Penner oversee the day-to-day operations of the team.

The Penners have said events with the team’s former players, coaches and executives are “very important” to them as they continue to plot the team’s direction.

Pat Bowlen had hoped the family would retain control of the team after his death, but no formal succession plan was in place at that time. Instead, Bowlen’s 77% stake of the team was placed in a trust.

After the Bowlen siblings could not agree on which of them should act as the team’s controlling owner — including a protracted, sometimes ugly, legal battle — the Broncos were sold to the Walton-Penner group.