Tag: Greg Penner

Greg Penner comments on Randy Gradishar’s Hall of Fame nod

“Randy is one of the most impactful figures in Broncos history and one of the greatest linebackers of all-time,” Greg Penner said.

Denver Broncos legendary linebacker Randy Gradishar has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the 2024 class, a long overdue honor.

After the news of Gradishar’s election was announced on Thursday evening, Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner released the following statement:

We join all of Broncos Country in congratulating Randy Gradishar on becoming the newest Denver Bronco elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Without question, Randy is one of the most impactful figures in Broncos history and one of the greatest linebackers of all-time. The iconic ‘Orange Crush’ will now finally have its first Hall of Famer, and there could not be a better representative of our first Super Bowl team and this organization than Randy.

Carrie and I were honored to be part of Randy’s ‘Knock on the Door’ surprise a few weeks ago. He has waited nearly 40 years for this moment, and we are excited to celebrate Randy this summer as he takes his well-deserved place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Gradishar, a seven-time Pro Bowler, played for the Broncos from 1974-1983. He remains the only player in franchise history who has ever won Defensive Player of the Year (1978). Unofficially, Gradishar is also the team’s all-time leader in tackles with 2,049 (although the NFL did not officially track that stat).

The talented linebacker totaled 19.5 sacks, 20 interceptions, 13 fumble recoveries and four defensive touchdowns during his 10-year career. Gradishar will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on Saturday, Aug. 3.

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One year after turning down Broncos, Jim Harbaugh accepts job in AFC West

One year after turning down interest from the Broncos, Jim Harbaugh is returning to the NFL and will face Denver twice a season.

After firing Nathaniel Hackett, Denver Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner helped lead a search for a replacement head coach last offseason.

The first candidate the team interviewed was then-Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh on Jan. 9. The interview was held virtually due to Harbaugh’s schedule. One week later, Harbaugh announced he would remain with the Wolverines on Jan. 16.

That didn’t stop Penner from flying to Michigan to meet with Harbaugh for an in-person interview the week of Jan. 23. If Penner attempted to change Harbaugh’s mind, his efforts were unsuccessful as the coach returned to Michigan (and won a national championship in 2023).

After failing to land Harbaugh, the Broncos agreed to trade for the rights to former New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton on Jan. 31. Payton, who won Super Bowl XLIV with the Saints in 2009, went 8-9 in his first season in Denver.

Harbaugh went 15-0 with the Wolverines and won his first national championship. Harbaugh previously won Coach of the Year honors with the San Francisco 49ers in 2011. One year later, Harbaugh led the 49ers to Super Bowl XLVII (they lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-31).

Now, one year after spurning interest from Denver, Harbaugh is set to return to the NFL and coach the Los Angeles Chargers, a division rival. Harbaugh will get to work with 25-year-old quarterback Justin Herbert in L.A. while Payton attempts to fix the Broncos’ quarterback mess.

Payton and Harbaugh are now set to face off two times per season in the AFC West, starting with the 2024 campaign this fall.

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Broncos’ stadium process is a ‘long-term, complex’ situation

“We’re continuing to evaluate options. It’s a long-term, complex [situation],” Greg Penner said of the Broncos’ stadium options.

The Denver Broncos have not announced plans to build a new stadium, but the club has surveyed fans on potential stadium options going forward.

The Broncos currently play at Empower Field at Mile High, which is only 23 years old, but that hasn’t stopped speculation that Denver might build a brand new stadium in the coming years.

“Stadium — nothing to update there,” Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner said on Jan. 9. “We’re continuing to evaluate options. It’s a long-term, complex question of what we end up doing there. I will say that I was pleased with the impact of the upgrades that we made this last offseason. I think that fans, from the feedback that we got, appreciated it as well.”

Denver’s ownership group has invested $100 million in stadium upgrades (including a massive new scoreboard). Penner saying it’s a “long-term” situation likely indicates nothing is imminent on the stadium front.

The team’s current stadium lease ends in 2031, so the team has no reason to rush an announcement on future plans (even if plans are being formed behind closed doors). Once we draw closer to the end of the Mile High lease, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Broncos announce plans to build a new stadium owned by the team. For now, though, that’s just speculation.

Much like with the team’s uniforms, we’re left to wait for updates.

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Greg Penner won’t spill the beans on Broncos’ new uniforms

“We’ll be having some things coming there in the future, but nothing to announce today,” Greg Penner said of the Broncos’ uniform changes.

We know the Denver Broncos are working on new uniforms. We don’t know when those uniforms will arrive and — contrary to speculation — we don’t know what the uniforms will look like.

Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner was unwilling to spill the beans on the team’s uniform timeline during his end-of-season press conference.

“Uniforms  — nothing to announce on new uniforms today,” Penner said on Jan. 9. “That’s also been [some] learning for me. I just figured when you wanted to change your uniforms, you just made a new uniform. But boy, it’s a several-year process with the league and Nike to get there. We’ll be having some things coming there in the future, but nothing to announce today.”

One could infer that new uniforms will or won’t arrive in time for the 2024 season, depending on how you interpret Penner’s comments.

The Walton-Penner family purchased the Broncos just before the 2022 season. That did not leave time for new uniforms ahead of the 2023 season, but if Penner and Co. acted quickly, a new uniform could have been designed and approved in time for the 2024 campaign.

If Denver plans to unveil a new uniform before the upcoming season, an announcement should be expected in the coming months. It seems safe to assume that the uniforms will arrive at least before the 2025 season. In the meantime, we wait. With anticipation (and speculation) increasing, Penner’s in no rush to announce a timeline.

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Now entering Year 3, Greg Penner a proponent of ‘constant learning’ with Broncos

“I’m a big proponent of constant learning,” Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner said.

After the Walton-Penner family purchased the Denver Broncos in 2022, Greg Penner was named the team’s chief executive officer. 

As the CEO, Penner handles the team’s day-to-day ownership duties. Denver’s ownership group includes six members, but none of them are as hands-on as Penner, who has the biggest role. After Rob Walton transferred part of his ownership stake to his grandchildren last fall, Penner also became the team’s new majority owner.

Penner and Co. took over the team in late summer 2022 just before the season started, so they did not experience free agency or the NFL draft in Year 1. After having gone through a full offseason and season in 2023, Penner is now entering Year 3 as the Broncos’ owner.

During his end-of-season press conference on Jan. 9, Penner was asked what he learned from his first to second season in the NFL.

“First and foremost, what our fans deserve and expect here is a very high standard,” Penner said. “That was reinforced again in the second year. I would say that I’m a big proponent of constant learning. Sam Walton would always say, ‘Once you think you’ve got it all figured out, that’s about when you’re ready to fail.’ When we’re here Year 19 [or] 20 and we’re having this conversation, I’ll still be learning.”

Penner believes he’ll never stop learning on the job. Last year, he spoke with head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton throughout the season to continue learning about the ins and outs of an NFL team.

“For me personally, practice is a great opportunity,” Penner said. “I get a chance to visit with Sean about plays he’s running. I talk to George about what’s going on with different players. I’ll have a conversation with Beau [Lowery] on the medical side. [Mike] Westhoff will tell me how he’s teaching kickers how to kick. It’s a lot of those little things. I’m not a big believer in that there’s one ‘ah-ha’ moment where you have it figured out. It’s a lot of those little things that give you perspective. Once you have that perspective, you get experience, and you can make better decisions.”

Penner, 54, serves as the chairman of Walmart and he is a board member of companies including eHarmony and Hyatt Hotels. Penner’s had plenty of success in the business world and he’s now aiming for success in the NFL. After improving from 5-12 in 2022 to 8-9 in 2023, Denver will attempt to show more improvement in 2024. The fans — as Penner noted — deserve and expect better on-field results going forward.

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More thoughts on the Broncos’ uniform rumors

The Broncos told KOA Radio that the uniform concept floating around on social media has never been discussed by the team.

Last week, we passed along information from Mario Vetanze describing what the Denver Broncos’ next uniform will look like. Based on the descriptions from Vetanze and an anonymous poster on the Broncos’ forums, several fans created mockups of the upcoming uniform changes.

The most notable (and perhaps most controversial) changes were adding mountains to the shoulders and switching to a white helmet. It turns out those details might not be accurate.

After mockups with the mountains went viral on social media last week, the team got word out through KOA Radio’s Benjamin Allbright that such a design has never even been discussed by the club.

It’s hard to take that statement as completely truthful because Vetanze described what was described to him, and the people who leaked information to him had to have based it on something (perhaps early concept designs).

Vetanze said in an interview with Paul Lukas of Uni Watch that two people who briefly saw the uniforms described them to him. Vetanze did not specifically say his two sources were team players, but the massage therapist lists Broncos players among his clients on his website.

We know that the Broncos involved their team captains in the process of switching to a new alternate white helmet, and we know from Twitter/X that Vetanze seems to have a working relationship with safeties Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson (who were team captains in 2023).

Whoever it was that leaked descriptions to Vetanze, they likely described something they really saw. Whether they saw just a concept design or the final design is uncertain. The team claims no design resembling the recent concept leaks has ever been discussed.

Based on that response from the team, it’s probably safe to assume the final design won’t look like the fan mockups that went viral last week. We’re skeptical that such a design was never discussed at any point, however.

During his end-of-season press conference last week, team owner/CEO Greg Penner indicated that the process has taken longer than he expected.

“Nothing to announce on new uniforms today,” Penner said on Jan. 9. “That’s also been [some] learning for me. I just figured when you wanted to change your uniforms, you just made a new uniform. But boy, it’s a several-year process with the league and Nike to get there. We’ll be having some things coming there in the future, but nothing to announce today.”

The Walton-Penner family purchased the Broncos in late summer 2022. Getting a new uniform designed and approved in time for 2023 was too short of a turnaround. It remains to be seen if a new look will arrive before the 2024 campaign.

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Broncos coach Sean Payton impressed owner Greg Penner in 2023

“He’s establishing a culture here based on performance, excellence, hard work and accountability,” Greg Penner said of coach Sean Payton.

In terms of a winning season and playoff berth, new Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton did not produce instant results in his first season with the club.

The Broncos finished below .500 (8-9) and missed the postseason in 2023, but team owner/CEO Greg Penner still came away impressed by Payton’s job performance.

“Really good,” Penner said of Payton during his end-of-season press conference last week. “I was impressed with after the 1-5 start, his leadership to bring us back from that adversity and getting into a position to make a playoff push — very impressive. Probably the biggest thing here, in terms of how I think about the future and this organization moving forward, is that he’s establishing a culture here based on performance, excellence, hard work and accountability.

“Again, his focus is on winning. A lot of times that does come out in a very passionate and intense way. I know you all see that. We see it a little bit differently. We see some of that in the building as well, but we also see another side of him. The messages that he has to our players are terrific. He has a great sense of humor. He uses historical anecdotes. We get to see both sides of that, but at the end of the day, he’s focused on winning, and I love that passion.”

Penner knew when he hired Payton that the Broncos would need some time to rebuild and contend for titles. After trading draft picks to acquire Payton and then giving him a big contract, Penner won’t give up on the coach quickly. Payton will be given time turn the program around, and Penner likes what he’s seen from the coach through one season.

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Greg Penner admits Broncos could have handled Russell Wilson negotiations differently

“You always look back and there’s different ways you can handle things. I’m sure … we could have done some things in a different way.”

After the Denver Broncos benched Russell Wilson in December, the quarterback revealed that the team had threatened to bench him months earlier if he did not agree to revise his contract.

The Broncos have not specifically denied that they threatened to bench Wilson during contract negotiations, but they have claimed Wilson was benched for football reasons, not his contract. Denver has also said the quarterback could remain with the team in 2024.

During his end-of-season press conference last week, diplomatic Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner acknowledged that the team could have handled some of the Wilson situation differently.

“Anytime you have a situation like this, and you try to have these conversations, it’s not always going to be easy,” Penner said. “You always look back and there’s different ways you can handle things. I’m sure in this case, we could have done some things in a different way. Again, our goal was to try and see if there was a nice, constructive path forward that was amenable to both parties.”

Penner said he believes the team approached Wilson’s agent “in a constructive way,” but he did not specifically deny a threat.

Now the club will have to make a decision on Wilson this offseason. Penner has maintained that Wilson’s contract will not dictate the team’s decision.

“The financial part of it is a significant component, in terms of how this works out in the future, but that’s not what will drive the decision,” Penner said. “The decision will be driven by what’s in the best interest of this football team winning games.”

Wilson expects to be cut by the team in March. If he does not revise his contract, a split seems likely this spring.

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Broncos owner Greg Penner says he understands frustration from fans

“I want to make sure our fans understand that I get their frustrations,” Broncos owner/CEO Greg Penner said.

The Denver Broncos held an end-of-season press conference on Tuesday featuring team owner/CEO Greg Penner, head coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton.

Penner said that he was encouraged by the team taking a step forward in 2023, but he also understood that the club did not meet fans’ expectations.

“First of all, I think we took a big step forward this year,” Penner said. “I was encouraged by what I saw. Proud of the resilience that the players showed, as well as the leadership of Sean and George and the whole staff. With that said, we understand the championship standard that we have here, both for the organization and the fan’s expectations. This is a proud franchise. We grade ourselves by our winning record, and this year, we didn’t meet our expectations.”

The Broncos went 8-9 in 2023 and while that marked the club’s most wins in a single season since 2016, Denver fell short of reaching the playoffs. The Broncos lost several games in frustrating fashion, and they only need a few more victories to reach the postseason.

That has left fans disappointed with the 2023 campaign, and Penner acknowledged that.

“I want to make sure our fans understand that I get their frustrations,” Penner said. “The main message for Broncos Country that I would have is, we’re just as impatient as you are to win here. We understand that we have a lot of work to do this offseason to get better. I want to thank the fans for your loyalty, support [and] passion. I think we have the best fans in the world here.”

The bottom line for fans is winning. Denver hasn’t had a winning season since 2016. In order for Penner to please the fans, the Broncos will need to get back on track with a winning season in Year 2 under Payton.

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10 takeaways from Broncos’ end-of-season press conference

The Broncos held an end-of-season press conference on Tuesday. Here are 10 big takeaways from the presser.

The Denver Broncos held an end-of-season press conference on Tuesday featuring team owner/CEO Greg Penner, coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton. Here are 10 notable takeaways from the presser.