ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Members of former Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen's family say they were excluded from this weekend's celebrations to commemorate the 10th year anniversary of the Super Bowl 50 winner as well as wide receiver Demaryius Thomas' addition to the team's ring of fame.
None of Bowlen's children, the family says, were invited to a Saturday night dinner or events at Empower Field before Sunday's game against the New York Giants as well as at halftime. Bowlen's three-plus decades tenure included as many Super Bowl trips as losing seasons, seven of the franchise's eight Super Bowl trips overall and all three Super Bowl wins, including Super Bowl 50.
Two of Bowlen's daughters, Brittany and Annabel, said in a statement Saturday: "We would have loved to have been part of this weekend's reunions and events. We will always be proud and continue to celebrate what our father and this team built together.''
Bowlen had seven children - two with his first wife Sally Parker and five with his second wife, Annabel. Bowlen, who stepped away from the day-to-day operations just before the 2014 season after he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Bowlen died, at age 75, in 2019.
Bowlen is also a member of the team's ring of fame - an honor Bowlen had created in 1984 to honor the best of the team's former players, coaches and team executives. Family members for ring of famers who have died are routinely invited to the weekend's events when new additions are made.
Annabel Bowlen - Brittany and Annabel's mother -- was also diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease - in 2018 - so Bowlen's children would have had to represent the family at any of the events this weekend.
The Broncos, through a spokesman, said they would have no comment on the Bowlens' exclusion. Multiple sources said Saturday there had been discussions as the team planned what it considers the largest gathering of alumni in the franchise's history about whether to extend an invitation to the Bowlen family.
Each ring of famer for the Broncos has a pillar, with a plaque, in the Ring of Fame plaza outside Empower Field at Mile High. Thomas' will be unveiled before Sunday's game in a ceremony open to the public and will be attended by Thomas' family as well as many of his former teammates.
Thomas' name will be unveiled on the stadium faade as well at halftime. The Super Bowl 50 team, with some 42 players and coaches in attendance will be honored at halftime as well. Most of Thomas' career with the Broncos - 2010-2018 - was during Bowlen's tenure as well.
"It was players like Demaryius Thomas who inspired our dad to create the Ring of Fame. D.T., beyond his talent on the field, led with joy, humility and kindness and embodied what it meant to be a Denver Bronco,'' Brittany and Annabel Bowlen said in their statement.
The Walton-Penner group was formally approved by the NFL in 2022 as the Broncos' new owners after the group spent a record $4.65 billion to purchase the team. Greg and Carrie Penner oversee the day-to-day operations of the team.
The Penners have said events with the team's former players, coaches and executives are "very important'' to them as they continue to plot the team's direction.
Pat Bowlen had hoped the family would retain control of the team after his death, but no formal succession plan was in place at that time. Instead, Bowlen's 77 percent stake of the team was placed in a trust.
After the Bowlen siblings could not agree on which of them should act as the team's controlling owner, including a protracted, sometimes ugly, legal battle, the Broncos were sold to the Walton-Penner group.
