SAN FRANCISCO — After the Broncos outlasted the Patriots in January to advance to their second Super Bowl in the past three seasons, Joe Ellis, their president and CEO, climbed atop the victory stage. Most of the Bowlen family ascended too. There were, by Ellis’s recollection, seven children of Pat and Annabel Bowlen, along with Pat’s brother, various spouses and three grandkids.
The person that Ellis most wanted to celebrate with, the person most responsible for the direction of one of the most successful NFL franchises, was not at the stadium. Pat Bowlen, the Broncos’ owner since 1984, watched the game at home, in front of the flat-screen television in his bedroom.