Bowlen Wallace was "disappointed" by the comments made by the Pat Bowlen Trust 9 NEWS DENVER
Beth Bowlen Wallace said she is "disappointed" and disagrees with the "inaccurate comments" made by the Pat Bowlen Family Trust saying that she is “not capable or qualified at this time” to run the Broncos after informing the trust that she seeks to be appointed controlling owner of the team, according to Ryan O'Halloran of the DENVER POST. Bowlen Wallace in a statement said, “I am disappointed and disagree with the inaccurate comments made by the trustees. While I can certainly respond to each of those statements, I don’t believe that will be productive.” Broncos Exec VP/Football Operations & GM John Elway "tweeted his support" for Broncos President & CEO Joe Ellis on Friday. Elway wrote, “I want to make one thing clear about (Thursday’s news): Joe Ellis is doing an incredible job (and) I have full confidence in him. He’s got all of our support. Pat put a lot of good people to follow his plan and that’s what they’re doing” (DENVER POST, 6/2).
NOT GOING AS PLANNED: In Colorado Springs, Woody Paige wrote the "contentious franchise-family affair Pat Bowlen never wanted and attempted to prevent has reared its ugly head." Bowlen Wallace’s intentions "will have to be carried out in a hostile takeover." The trustees are "grooming" 28-year-old Brittany Bowlen to eventually succeed Pat Bowlen, but that "significant change to the Broncos will not occur for at least five years." The only two "viable candidates were Beth and Brittany, and Brittany had become the Chosen One by the trustees." Ellis and Bowlen Wallace "do not like each other ... at all." Additionally, there is a "true disconnect" between Pat Bowlen’s "former family and his second family." The younger Bowlen kids "side with Brittany," while Bowlen Wallace has the "backing of her sibling and Pat’s two brothers" (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 6/3). THE MMQB's Albert Breer writes the recent developments are "unlikely to change anything in the short term." The trust "isn’t squatting on the team, but it is charged by Pat Bowlen to determine when there is a son or daughter ready and capable to take over." If there is "one Bowlen child who’s shown promise, it’s probably" Brittany, who graduated from Notre Dame for undergrad and Duke business school (SI.com, 6/4).
STRONG RESUME? Denver-based KUSA-NBC's Mike Klis reported Bowlen Wallace appears to have "met several components" of the criteria that would qualify her to become controlling owner, but it "could be interpreted she has fallen short in meeting the standards of others." To earn the "right to succeed their father, the child must become qualified according to the criteria written" by Pat Bowlen himself "before he was afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, and carried out by his trustees." There is an "education component, where an advanced degree is encouraged," and the child needs "five years employment with the Broncos or NFL." The trustees also take into consideration "financial and business acumen" and "experience in positions of leadership." Finally, there is an "overarching, subjective component to the criteria that calls for the trustees to make judgments on character, honesty and integrity." How the trustees evaluate Bowlen Wallace in these subjective categories "remains unknown." But it "can be assumed she did not endear herself to the trustees by essentially circumventing the Trust by issuing a press release Thursday to announce her intent to take control of the team" (9NEWS.com, 6/1).
