Schefter: Pat Bowlen would be ‘disappointed’ in Broncos ownership struggle
Oct 26, 2018, 8:54 AM | Updated: 9:03 am
Thursday saw the latest chapter in what is likely to be a long, drawn-out saga to determine the future ownership of the Denver Broncos.
Bill Bowlen, the brother of Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, filed a petition with the Arapahoe County District Court on Thursday asking for the removal the three trustees to the Pat Bowlen Trust, which has control over the team and a number of Pat Bowlen’s other business assets.
Per a media release, Bill Bowlen said he has “real concerns with the trustees, their conduct and how they got to the positions they are in.”
The three-person trust includes Richard Slivka, Mary Kelly, and Broncos president and CEO Joe Ellis.
FULL PETITION: Read the full 21-page motion filed by Bill Bowlen on Thursday
“They have little or no accountability to anybody but themselves,” Bill Bowlen said via the release. “They have not complied with the rules of the NFL, and I am uncomfortable with the way they have handled my brother’s affairs.
“I know what his wishes were, and these individuals are definitely not following them.”
The move is just the latest in a back-and-forth power struggle among the Bowlen family, one that ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter said likely would have upset the Bowlen patriarch.
“If Pat saw all this and really watched it unfold, I think he’d be really angry, to be honest with you,” Schefter told “Schlereth and Evans” on Friday. “I think that he’d be very disappointed in the way all of this is being handled.”
“Schlereth and Evans” co-host Mark Schlereth echoed Schefter’s comments, saying, “From the outside looking in it just looks bad and it drags your family kind of ‘through the mud.’ … I just don’t think he would be very happy.”
Just last weekend, Brittany Bowlen, one of five children from Pat Bowlen’s second marriage to Annabel Bowlen, declared she “one day” has the ambition to be the controlling owner of the Broncos.
In late-May, Beth Bowlen Wallace, one of two children from Pat Bowlen’s first marriage, informed the team and the NFL she has interest in becoming controlling owner of the club.
At that time, in a statement to Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic, the Pat Bowlen Trust said, “The trustees have informed Beth of their determination that she is not capable or qualified at this time.”
After Beth Bowlen Wallace’s announcement, Bill Bowlen threw his support behind her bid to become controlling owner of the Broncos.
Check back to 1043TheFan.com or tune in to 104.3 The Fan as updates to this developing story become available.
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