Broncos President & CEO Joe Ellis and Exec VP/Football Operations & GM John Elway yesterday "spoke somberly about their beloved owner Pat Bowlen," who is fighting Alzheimer's and has relinquished day-to-day control of the team, according to Nicki Jhabvala of the DENVER POST. Ellis said, "Mr. Bowlen’s doing pretty well -- as well as you can be fighting a really, really tough disease. It still remains very difficult for Annabel and the children and obviously for him, but (also for) them as caregivers. It’s just unfair." Jhabvala notes Bowlen "placed the team in a trust to transfer controlling ownership of the team to one of his seven children." The trust is run by Ellis, Broncos General Counsel & Exec VP Rich Slivka and local attorney Mary Kelly, who "will determine which child is best fit for the job." Ellis said, "The status has not changed. When a child emerges that has the capability and has earned the right to have that job and take over their father’s chair, the three trustees will determine that. ... There’s no change in terms of there’s no scoreboard, no leaderboard, we’re not handicapping the children or anything like that at this point" (DENVER POST, 7/28).
BACK TO WORK: In Denver, Nick Groke notes the Broncos "return to Dove Valley" today for training camp. Elway: "Our expectations are still the same. Since I took this job back in 2011, our job is to be competitive and try to win a championship year in and year out. In today’s game, there’s always transition in the offseason. And there’s a lot more turnover now than there has been. This is a different team than last year" (DENVER POST, 7/28).
