Who was Pat Bowlen? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Patrick Dennis Bowlen

Died At Age: 75

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Annabel Bowlen (m. ?–2019)

father: Paul Bowlen

mother: Arvella Bowlen

siblings: Bill Bowlen, John Bowlen, Marybeth Bowlen

children: Amie Bowlen Klemmer, Annabel Bowlen, Beth Bowlen, Brittany Bowlen, Christiana Bowlen, John Bowlen, Patrick Bowlen

Born Country: United States

American Men Aquarius Entrepreneurs

Died on: June 13, 2019

place of death: Englewood, Colorado, United States

U.S. State: Wisconsin

Notable Alumni: University Of Oklahoma

More Facts

education: Campion High School, The University of Oklahoma

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Childhood & Early Life

Pat Bowlen was born on February 18, 1944, in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, to Arvella and Paul Dennis Bowlen. His father was the founder of Regent Drilling, a multimillion oil company. He had three siblings – John, Bill, and Marybeth.

He spent his childhood days in Alberta. He studied at Campion High School, a Catholic boarding school.

Bowlen then enrolled at the University of Oklahoma from where he earned degrees in business and law. During his time there, he played in the freshman football team as well as in the junior football team. He also played two times for the Canadian Junior Football League Championship.

In his youth, Pat Bowlen became a successful lawyer in Alberta. He also served as an executive for his father's agency. He worked as a real estate developer as well and became a businessman, running Batoni-Bowlen Enterprises, a construction company.

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Career

Pat Bowlen acquired Denver Broncos in 1984. Under his ownership, the team held the highest winning percentage in the NFL (334 wins and 212 losses for a .612 winning percentage). At the time of his death, the record was broken by New England Patriots.

From 1999 to 2008, Bowlen fought a number of legal battles against Edgar Kaiser Jr., the former owner of Broncos. Between 1998 and 1999, Bowlen was sued by Kaiser after he decided to sell John Elway a share in the team.

In 2004, a jury ruled in favor of Edgar Kaiser, and he was given the right to purchase a 10% stake in Broncos. After this, Bowlen appealed against the verdict and eventually won in 2008.

In December 2008, Bowlen fired the vice president of football operations and long-term head coach, Mike Shanahan, after the latter failed to meet his expectations. He eventually replaced him with Josh McDaniels. After a losing streak in the 2010 season, Bowlen fired McDaniels as well.

On February 12, 2009, he fired Jim and Jeff Goodman and appointed Brian Xanders as his team’s sole general manager.

In late 2009, Pat Bowlen was rumored to step down as the owner of Denver Broncos because of his short-term memory loss. According to ‘The Denver Post’ columnist Woody Paige, he wasn’t in the state to remember details of his team’s back-to-back Super Bowl titles in the late 1990s.

From early 2010, he didn’t play a major role in the team’s decision making. From that time onward, President Joe Ellis and Executive VP John Elway assumed control.

Following the end of the 2010-11 regular season, he hired former Carolina Panthers' head coach John Fox as his team’s new coach.

On July 23, 2014, Bowlen officially relinquished control of Denver Broncos to Joe Ellis due to the progression of his Alzheimer's disease.

Besides being the owner and CEO of Denver Broncos, Pat Bowlen was also a minority owner of the Arena Football League's team Colorado Crush. He became an owner in 2003 and held the position until 2008.

He was also the principal owner of Denver Outlaws from 2006 until his death in 2019. Denver Outlaws are a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) men's field lacrosse team that began playing in 2006 as an expansion team.

Family & Personal Life

Pat Bowlen was married twice in his lifetime. His first marriage was with Sally Parker, with whom he had two daughters, Amie and Beth.

His second wife was Annabel Bowlen who was with him until his death. The couple had five children, namely Christianna, Annabel, Johnny, Brittany, and Patrick.

On June 13, 2019, Pat Bowlen died of a lung problem, at the age of 75. According to his will, he didn’t specify which one of his seven children would become the next controlling owner of Denver Broncos. However, he wanted all of them to inherit the franchise.

Pat Bowlen Biography