From 1988 until 2009, the man behind the lens of the all-22 camera for the Denver Broncos was Kent Erickson, now the host of The Big Show on Mile High Sports AM 1340.
Erickson has countless memories of Mr. Bowlen’s leadership in action, but remembers two moments with vivid detail.
Mike Shanahan had just been hired as the head coach of the team. He had been handed the daunting task of guiding John Elway in the twilight of his career to a Super Bowl championship. Elway had reached the doorstep of the promised land three times with Dan Reeves, but never walked through the gates. Shanahan was expected to change that.
“As soon as Shanahan arrived he asked me, ‘How many [film] viewing rooms do we have?’ I told him we had 10. ‘Upstairs?’ he asked. That was our total, I told him.”
Shanahan wanted to triple that number.
“‘Coach, each of those viewing machines is $30,000,’ I said.”
The coach told Erickson to hold tight. Shanahan then went and spoke with Mr. Bowlen. Not ten minutes later he was back in front of Erickson.
“‘Make it happen,’ he told me,” said Erickson. “Coach asked and Mr. Bowlen immediately gave the green light. If it was necessary to be the best, he said ‘do it.'”
According to Erickson, it was that same attitude that led to one the hardest days of his career, and certainly one of the hardest for Mr. Bowlen. The day he had to let Shanahan go.
Erickson remembers a moment with Mr. Bowlen from that difficult day.
