CANTON, Ohio – Less than two months after his death due to Alzheimer’s, late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen joined his sport’s immortality here Saturday night with his posthumous induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
A six-minute, 47-second video presentation preceded director of sports medicine Steve Antonopulos and six of Bowlen’s seven children taking the stage. Amie Klemmer, Beth Bowlen Wallace, and Patrick, Brittany, Annabel and Christanna Bowlen, each grabbed the cloth to unveil their father’s bronze bust.
Bowlen became the 16th team founder or owner to be inducted, joining contemporaries Lamar Hunt (Kansas City), Jerry Jones (Dallas), Wellington Mara (New York Giants), Eddie DeBartolo (San Francisco), Ralph Wilson (Buffalo), Al Davis (Oakland) and Dan Rooney (Pittsburgh).