When Lamar Hunt died in December 2006, tributes to his legacy rang out from all corners of the National Football League, as it was his vision, his investment and his family’s cash flow that helped the American Football League find stability, credibility and ultimately success to permanently transform the landscape of pro football.
But as much as the entire collection of original American Football League teams owes to Hunt, so too do the Broncos owe to Bob Howsam (lower left in the picture), who along with his father Earl and brother Lee had the idea of supplementing Denver’s flourishing minor-league and college-based sports scene of the late 1950s with an investment in the fledgling AFL.
Monday night, Howsam died in Sun City, Ariz., where he had been spending his retirement years. He was 89 years old.
“Bob Howsam played a very important part in the founding of this great franchise, at the very beginning of the American Football League,” President/CEO Pat Bowlen said in a statement. “He put together the very first Denver Broncos team and brought pro football to Denver. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Howsam family at this difficult time.”
Howsam’s involvement with the Broncos was relatively brief, lasting just two years from the club’s founding in 1959 — one year before it and the other original AFL franchises began play — until 1961. Other owners would be afforded greater renown in Broncos annals; Bowlen’s stewardship has witnessed five conference titles and two world championships, while the management of brothers Allen and Gerald Phipps saw the team evolve from underfunded league stragglers to conference champions, consistent winners and — most importantly — the object of fervent fan devotion throughout the Mountain Time Zone.
But the Howsams’ original investment in the AFL laid the groundwork for an organization whose presence would forever alter the landscape of the region — from other sports franchises that followed to the businesses which relocated to and flourished in the Denver area in part due to the region’s vibrancy that was in part made possible by the presence of professional sports.
“Here in Denver we had a stadium,” Howsam later told NFL Films, referring to Bears Stadium, which would a few renovations later more than double in size to a 76,000-seat palace of sound called Mile High Stadium. “We were hoping to enlarge it because we were talking about (starting) the Continental Baseball League at that time, so it fit right in.
“I wanted a football team here for the fans, because I thought we had great fans. I needed 35,000 seats to first, enter baseball, and secondly, we thought we could draw that many for football in time.”
He was right, although that time didn’t come for half a decade.
Nationally, Howsam is best remembered as being the architect of “The Big Red Machine,” the nickname given to the overpowering Cincinnati Reds teams of the 1970s that won back-to-back World Series in 1975 and 1976 and claimed six National League West crowns.
When Howsam arrived in Cincinnati in 1967, the Reds already had future all-time hits leader Pete Rose and eventual Hall of Famer Tony Perez in their dugout. By the end of that season, Johnny Bench had made his Major League debut. In 1970, Sparky Anderson became manager. In 1971, Howsam acquired George Foster and executed one of the most lopsided trades in baseball annals, acquiring Joe Morgan, Cesar Geronimo, Jack Billingham and Dennis Menke for Lee May, Tommy Helms and Jimmy Stewart. Two years later, Ken Griffey Sr., was brought aboard.
The results — eight 90-win seasons in the 1970s and an average of 95 wins per season — are the legacy for which many around the nation will remember Howsam.
But in Denver, what he leaves behind might be of deeper root — a franchise that forever changed the face and identity of a region.
Howsam might not have been an active component of the franchise’s success. But there might not have been any franchise at all without Howsam’s foresight.
Tags: Bob Howsam, Foolish Club, History, Lamar Hunt
Thanks for this post. I never even thought about how the Broncos ever came about. It is sad that a death had to get me interested in it but hope he lived a fulfilling life and that he made a difference to our world today.
I hope Pat Bowlen places Bob Howsam into the ring of fame as soon as possible. Without Howsam, there is no ring of fame.. or the Denver Broncos for that matter!
I also hope that the Broncos wear ORANGE at some point, in some way next year to honor Howsam. His Broncos wore orange…the true color of the Denver Broncos!
The Bronco Blues are not the personality of this team and now have been worn during the most unsuccessful period in Broncos history since 1977. One playoff win in 10 years!
HONOR BOB HOWSAM AND THE SPIRIT OF THE DENVER BRONCOS!! BRING BACK THE ORANGE CRUSH!!!
Yes bobarrtj ou are right.
Actually, if colors were to be worn to honor Howsam, they’d probably be mustard and brown — the ones worn when he owned the team, a color scheme so notably complemented by those infamous vertically-striped socks.
I appreciate Mr. Howsam greatly although before I heard of his passing a few hours ago, I must confess I’d never heard of him. He is as responsible as anyone else for my love affair with the Broncos. Since the time that I could speak, the Denver Broncos have been my favorite team as I watched them, (like every good Mormon) after church via our Salt Lake City CBS or NBC affiliate. He is so marvelous with what he accomplished and the Broncos’ development has confirmed indisputably that one can never foreshadow the lasting legacy of what he or she has done until several generations have absorbed it. With this passing, let’s marshal ourselves in Bronco Country to win a championship this season, hopefully one that sees Jay Cutler, John Lynch and Brandon Marshall hoist the Lombardi trophy!
Bob Howsam was a classy dude. As a Reds and Broncos fan I am very touched by what an amazing and lasting impression he made on so many people. Sparky Anderson when told of his death today broke down in tears. He said,” Bob Howsam made me who I am today, he totally changed my life.” Bob Howsam changed all of our lives by buying the Broncos and bringing them into the AFL.
Best wishes to the Howsam family and Mr. Howsam Thank you!
My deepest sympathy’s to the Howsam family. So many of the things that we have that are notable parts of the every day fabric of our lives are forgotten or simply unknown. We forget that on the pillar is laid the stone. Think of all of the amazing memory’s that have been collected in the span of time that Mr. Howsam’s experience represents. We are just 1 year short of the 50th anniversary of the Denver Broncos. Elway, the Orange Crush, 5 Super Bowls, 4 different uniforms, but through it all one name. The Denver Broncos. I feel that with the passing of Mr. Howsam an era has ended that needs to be better remembered by sporting fans everywhere, not just in Denver. Names need to be added to the Ring of Fame and to the Hall of Fame! As a team that is geographically isolated, Denver receives very little media attention which has resulted in this tragic news being presented in nothing more than a 10 word dash on ESPN and the NFL Channels crawler. Denver has lost its founder, its all-time leading receiver to retirement, and two of its up and coming stars in a little over a year. If Tom Nalen retires no player will remain from our Super Bowl winning teams. I grant that this is a new era but we must first place the memory of the old one in stone. As a collective voice we should be heard and they should be remembered. This will be best accomplished by supporting the very thing that all of the members of this teams history believed in. The Denver Broncos.
This is no time for the remarking on our playoff dry spell. Instead let it be a reminder that time is fleeting and nothing should keeps us from reminding fans everywhere who we are. We will never quit! We will always be here and we will always believe! We are the Denver Broncos Fans!
Thank you for the beginning Mr. Howsam, we will carry the torch from here.
Mike in San Diego
He lived off and on in Glenwood Springs for 40 years, ( he loved the hot springs pool), he negotiated with the railroad into donating land to the city of Glenwood, then helped create Two Rivers park on the donated land.
Don’t let his passing in Arizona or his time in Cinci fool ya, he was one of ours.
Thank-you.
“But in Denver, what he leaves behind might be of deeper root — a franchise that forever changed the face and identity of a region.”
Amen to this quote.
Thank you, Mr.Howsam.
Thanks Andrew. This post definately opens eyes to the extreme “humble” start of the Denver Broncos, and the whole AFL in general. Howsam is a pioneer, and a legend. His plaque at Invesco field maybe should be in a more prominent location, but at least our club celebrates our past which is full of colorful anecdotes, strange happenings, successes and lows. Anyone who spots me on gameday should know that I openly celebrate the early years of bronco lore, as I choose to wear the yellow and brown first uniform as opposed to the current orange and blue. If anyone is interested in viewing images of those years, I invite them to view my Broncos Country page.
My regards to the Howsam family. I, like many others, did not realize how the organization was founded. However, the more I learn, the brighter my Orange. Thank you, Mr. Howsam, for your efforts which have brought many memorable moments to the tried and true, Orange and Blue.
Marc in Jacksonville, FL