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Kiszla: As beloved Broncos owner awaits call from pro football Hall, can we put bickering Bowlen kids in timeout? By Mark Kiszla Denver Post Jan. 31, 2019

If it’s OK with Beth, Johnny and all the bickering Bowlen kids, can we call a ceasefire in the family food fight long enough to get Mr. B elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

On the cusp of Pat Bowlen being granted football immortality, his children have raised such a ruckus it makes me wonder if they’re spoiled brats not to be trusted with upholding the Broncos’ tradition of excellence.

I’d call the whole affair sad, if NFL commissioner didn’t beat me to it.

“It’s sad when disputes like this occur. It’s not something I think Pat Bowlen, who I knew very well, would have wanted,” Goodell said Wednesday, when Denver Post reporter Ryan O’Halloran inquired about the family feud over team ownership. “The Broncos meant a great deal to him and his family. I think this week, the best thing we can do is to focus on Pat and his contributions and his viability to become a new member of the Hall of Fame.”

Hey, sounds good to me. It’s expected the beloved 74-year-old Broncos owner will earn an 80 percent approval rating from voters Saturday and finally be granted a place of honor in Canton, Ohio, as a contributor to the game. Let’s all raise a toast to Mr. B.

But, in the meantime, can all seven Bowlen kids behave themselves?

Or might Beth Bowlen Wallace be tempted to hurl a gravy boat at chief executive officer Joe Ellis for sitting in her father’s chair at the table? Could Johnny Bowlen, self-proclaimed blood of the city, get up and rub the pot roast all over his chest? Will Uncle Bill Bowlen, brother of the team’s ailing owner, fire more spitwads for lawyers to clean up?

“I completely agree with the commissioner,” vowed Uncle Bill, trying to act like an adult, issuing a statement in support of a ceasefire. “This weekend is about Pat’s contributions to the NFL.”

Gee, that’s nice. It’s too bad much of the past year has instead been about family members dragging Mr. B’s sterling legacy of trophies through the courts and the mud.

I know, Broncomaniacs would rather worry about whether will draft Drew Lock to replace Case Keenum. But the only position more essential than to the team’s continued success is an owner who fully appreciates the responsibility of stewardship for a Denver civic treasure.

In fact, a recent conversation with former Broncos great Champ Bailey about his own candidacy for the Hall ended with him asking me: “What is going on with ownership?”

Mr. B did more than sign the checks at team headquarters. He set a standard. A larger-than-life image of the longtime owner stands sentry at the main entrance to the Broncos locker room, with Pat Bowlen’s mission statement affixed to the wall in all capital letters: “I want us to be number one in everything.”

At the moment, the Bowlen family is closer to leading the league in dysfunction than returning the Broncos to the Super Bowl. It’s far-fetched to believe Goodell can arbitrate a resolution that pleases all seven of Pat’s children from two marriages any more than the commissioner made and New England happy with his ruling on .

From our spots in the cheap seats, either we believe Ellis is respecting Mr. B’s wishes by grooming 29- year-old Brittany Bowlen to follow in her father’s footsteps, or speculate Ellis and his fellow trustees have taken advantage of a man suffering from Alzheimer’s to wrest power from other family members.

“If it was Mr. B’s wish to keep the team in the family, why not do it? Yes, Brittany is young. But she’s not that young,” said Bailey, who played for the Broncos from 2004-13, after arriving in Denver through a blockbuster trade with Washington.

Bailey joined the Redskins as a first-round draft choice out of Georgia in 1999, the same year the franchise was purchased by a young entrepreneur named Daniel Snyder.

“Daniel Snyder, he turned 35 years old the first season I was in Washington,” Bailey said. “Brittany Bowlen has to be better than him. She has a standard to maintain with the Broncos. She can’t let her dad down.”

So what better time than now, with Mr. B awaiting the call from Canton, than to begin passing the torch to Brittany? Sooner rather than later, the Broncos should bring her back from her job at a global management consulting firm in Denver. Let her sit in meetings, while Elway and scouts discuss the merits of Lock as a franchise quarterback. At age 29, it’s time Brittany put her MBA from Duke into practice on real football problems.

Let’s start here: Inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame are given a gold jacket. How does Brittany divide that precious jacket seven ways, without one of the Bowlen kids throwing a tantrum because a sibling got a bigger piece?

Broncos ownership dispute: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says he may get involved By Ryan O’Halloran Denver Post Jan. 31, 2019

The dispute between one of Broncos owner Pat Bowlen’s brothers and the three-person trust that has run the franchise since 2014 took another turn Wednesday during NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual Super Bowl Week press conference.

Goodell said it is possible he could get involved in the situation, which began in October when Bill Bowlen filed a lawsuit in Arapahoe County District Court demanding Broncos president and CEO Joe Ellis, team counsel Rich Slivka and local attorney Mary Kelly be removed from power.

“As you know, this is an ongoing dispute,” Goodell said in response to a question by The Denver Post. “It is one that our office and myself, in particular, may be involved with so I’m limited in how much I can say at this point in time.

“It’s sad when disputes like this occur. It’s not something I think Pat Bowlen — who I knew very well — would have wanted. The Broncos meant a great deal to him and his family.”

In December, the trustees asked the court to delay progress in the Bill Bowlen lawsuit so the NFL could determine if the dispute is an “ownership/team” issue or a “family” issue. Bill Bowlen’s attorneys objected to the stay request, pointing out that he does not own a part of the Broncos and thus should not fall under the league’s jurisdiction.

As usual in this case, reading between lines is required.

Was Goodell not praising the trustees for their work in Pat Bowlen’s absence, as he did the past two years, a sign he is disappointed in this saga?

Did Goodell saying he “himself” may get involved a sign a decision on recommending arbitration is imminent and he does not want this carried out in court?

If the NFL wants to start arbitration, what is the next move for Beth Bowlen Wallace, who has expressed her desire to succeed her father?

When Pat Bowlen drew up his plan to have the trustees run the Broncos until one of his seven children were deemed capable and qualified to succeed him, Goodell and the league office approved the plan.

During his Super Bowl Week remarks in 2017 and ’18, Goodell was adamant that the trustees were performing their duties as Pat wished.

In 2017, Goodell said the Broncos were “compliant with our rules,” in designating the trustees to run the team and that “the trust has worked effectively in the short term.”

Last year, Goodell said the trustees had done a “terrific job of leading the franchise over the last several years as Pat (has) focused on his health issues.”

Bowlen stepped away from the Broncos in 2014 because of Alzheimer’s.

“This week, I think the best thing we do is focus on Pat and his contributions and his candidacy to become a new member of the Hall of Fame,” Goodell said.

Bowlen is a finalist for the Class of 2019 in the Contributor’s Category. The vote will be held Saturday.

In a statement, Bill Bowlen said: “I completely agree with the commissioner on this. There is no place for my actions with the trustees (heading into) this weekend. This weekend is about Pat’s contribution to the NFL. It’s a time for his family to hopefully celebrate his accomplishments.”

Through a Broncos spokesperson, the trustees declined to react to Goodell’s comments.

Since last month, when Annabel Bowlen, Pat’s wife, filed a motion through her attorney to intervene in the Bill Bowlen vs. Trustees litigation, there has been no movement in the case as both sides have chosen to stay off the public and legal stage until at least after this weekend’s Hall of Fame vote.

Goodell calls lawsuit against Broncos trustees and ownership dispute, 'sad, not what Pat Bowlen would have wanted' By Mike Kils 9 News Jan. 31, 2019

Careful as Roger Goodell was trying to be, the NFL commissioner did share some of his feelings regarding the Broncos’ ongoing ownership dispute.

Speaking at his annual Super Bowl press conference Wednesday, Goodell was several questions in when he paused to take a drink of water as he was getting asked about the lawsuit filed against the trustees representing Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and whether he would agree to arbitrate the ownership dispute.

"As you know, that is an ongoing dispute," Goodell said. “It is one our office, myself in particular, may be involved with so I’m limited in how much I can say at this point in time.

“I guess I’d say in the short term, that it's sad when disputes like this occur. It's not something Pat Bowlen, who I knew very well, would have wanted."

Beth Bowlen Wallace, one of Pat Bowlen’s older daughters from his first marriage, sent out a press release eight months ago stating she wants to run the Broncos. Pat Bowlen’s trustees responded by stating “she’s not capable or qualified at this time."

The dispute reached another level when Bill Bowlen, one of Pat’s brothers and a Beth Bowlen Wallace supporter, filed a lawsuit against Pat Bowlen’s three trustees – Joe Ellis, Rich Slivka and Mary Kelly – with the request they vacate their control of Pat Bowlen’s trust.

The trustees have clearly been grooming another one of Pat Bowlen’s daughters, Brittany Bowlen, to one day succeed her father as the Broncos’ principal owner. Brittany turned 29 earlier this month and has stated she also has ambitions to one day run the Broncos, while also admitting she has more work to do. She is currently getting business experience by working for McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, in downtown Denver.

Goodell, who ultimately has the final say on ownership of all 32 NFL teams, for the first time weighed in on Bowlen’s family members challenging the trust’s plan by called the situation, “sad."

“The Broncos meant a great deal to him and his family," Goodell said of Pat Bowlen, who is dealing with Alzheimer’s. “I think this week the best thing we can do is focus on Pat, his contributions and his viability to become a new member of the Hall of Fame."

Bowlen is a contributor finalist who is expected to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2019 on Saturday.

Bill Bowlen released an amiable statement following Goodell's answer to the question about his lawsuit: “I completely agree with the commissioner on this. There is no place for my actions with the trustees in this weekend. This weekend is about Pat’s contribution to the NFL. It’s a time for his family to hopefully celebrate his accomplishments.”

Roger Goodell said the NFL ‘may’ get involved in the Broncos’ ownership dispute. So what happens next? By Nicki Jhabvala The Athletic Jan. 31, 2019

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, in his first public comments about the Broncos’ ownership dispute since a lawsuit was filed, said the league “may” get involved in the matter and that it’s “sad” such a dispute has occurred.

“As you know, this is an ongoing dispute. It is one that our office and myself in particular may be involved with, so I’m limited in how much I can say at this point in time,” Goodell said Wednesday during his Super Bowl LIII news conference in . “I guess I’d say, in the short-term, that it’s sad when disputes like this occur. It’s not something I think Pat Bowlen, who I knew very well, would have wanted. The Broncos meant a great deal to him and his family. I think this week, the best thing we can do is focus on Pat and his contributions and his candidacy to become a new member of the Hall of Fame.”

Goodell’s comments come just three days before Bowlen goes up for vote for election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is one of two contributor finalists for the class of 2019 and needs 80 percent approval from the Hall’s selection committee Saturday to be enshrined later this year.

But recognition of his accomplishments as owner and as a long-time committee member for the NFL has been followed by a brewing dispute over his succession plan for his franchise.

In late October, his brother Bill Bowlen filed a petition in Arapahoe County District Court seeking to have the three trustees running the Broncos — team president/CEO Joe Ellis, team counsel Rich Slivka and Denver attorney Mary Kelly — removed from power. Bowlen alleged the trustees have not acted in the best interest of Pat Bowlen and his family, and have failed to execute his wishes for the team.

The lawsuit was filed about five months after Beth Bowlen Wallace, one of Pat’s daughters with first wife Sally Parker, publicly stated her desire to become controlling owner. Her interest was immediately met with a stinging rebuttal from the trustees, who claimed she was “not capable or qualified at this time.”

At a news conference a few months later, Ellis indicated Brittany Bowlen, 29, was the trustees’ preferred candidate among Bowlen’s seven children to become controlling owner. Brittany publicly stated her desire to become qualified and to one day run the team just days before Bill filed his petition.

The months since have resulted in a legal back-and-forth between Bill Bowlen and the trustees, who requested NFL arbitration to settle the dispute and keep it out of the courts. Per the NFL’s constitution, the commissioner has complete authority to arbitrate “any dispute involving two or more members of the League or involving two or more holders of an ownership interest in a member club of the League, certified to him by any of the disputants.”

The pending arbitration was a reason for Goodell’s limited comments on the matter. But now the question is whether Bill Bowlen can be compelled to arbitration since he is not employed by the league or a team and has no ownership interest in a team, as the NFL’s bylaws require. He sold his interest in the team back to Pat Bowlen around 2002-03, according to his original petition.

The trustees have argued that Bill’s filing was “a surrogate petition” and “a thinly-veiled continuation of the attack” by Wallace and her sister Amie Klemmer on Pat Bowlen’s succession plan and the trust and, therefore, he has an “ownership interest” in the Broncos.

It’s worth noting, however, that in response to the trustees’ motion to stay the proceedings, Bill Bowlen wrote that if NFL arbitration is accepted, Wallace and Klemmer would seek to have NFL commissioner Roger Goodell removed as arbitrator because of conflicts of interest.

Goodell’s comments Wednesday were a departure from his comments in years past regarding Broncos ownership, but perhaps expectedly so. At Super Bowls LI and LII, as well as at a Town Hall at the Broncos’ training facility in August 2017, the commissioner praised Ellis and the trustees for their management of the team and execution of Pat Bowlen’s wishes. He’s also stated multiple times that the team is in compliance with the league’s ownership rules.

In response to Goodell’s latest comments, Bill Bowlen released a statement.

“I completely agree with the commissioner,” Bowlen said. “There is no place for my actions with the trustees this weekend. This is about Pat’s contribution to the NFL. It’s a time for his family to hopefully celebrate his accomplishments.”

Through a spokesperson, Ellis and the trustees declined to comment.

Pat Bowlen stepped down as controlling owner in fall 2013 because of the progression of Alzheimer’s and Ellis was elevated to controlling owner delegee, a role he was tasked with assuming before Bowlen’s illness forced him to resign.

For more than four years, as he maintained the daily operations of the team and the trustees were tasked with deciding the next controlling owner, Ellis remained steadfast in saying the team would stay within the Bowlen family. It was Pat Bowlen’s wish that one of his children — five with current wife Annabel and two with Parker — would “earn the right” to become controlling owner.

In 2015, the trustees sent a memo to the children and Annabel outlining criteria that will make them eligible for consideration but didn’t guarantee their shot at becoming owner. Wallace, 48, worked for the team for more than three years as a director of special projects and received her law degree from the University of Denver in 2016. She has essentially claimed that she has met the trustee’s requirements and has been wrongfully denied a chance to become controlling owner.

Brittany Bowlen spent about a year with the team in its business department and, after receiving her MBA from Duke last year, began a full-time position with McKinsey & Company consulting in Denver.

“Accusations, allegations we don’t agree with. We think they’re false,” Ellis said when asked about the lawsuit earlier this month. “I do too, and that will play out in a proper forum. As I said earlier: Pat instructed the Trustees, he instructed me individually, he designated me to succeed him in a transition period with a plan to see if a child could come forward and earn the right to sit in his chair. Those were Pat’s orders to me. He’s done a lot for me and a lot for my family, so I’m going to see that through.”

Despite the ongoing dispute, the Bowlen family is expected to convene in Atlanta this week to celebrate their father, who is likely to be elected to the Hall after 35 years of owning the team. After his pending election, however, the focus may shift once more to the contentious ownership squabble.

Examining the chances of four Broncos up for Hall of Fame election By Nicki Jhabvala The Athletic Jan. 31, 2019

Saturday in Atlanta, the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 48-person selection committee will convene for a day of decision-making to determine its class of 2019 among 15 modern-era finalists, two contributor finalists and one senior finalist.

Anywhere from four to eight members — with no more than five modern-era candidates — will be elected. The Broncos, long a franchise with a minimal presence in Canton, could foreseeably add at least one more representative at the Hall, if not two or three, alongside their contingent of Gary Zimmerman, Floyd Little, John Elway, Shannon Sharpe and Terrell Davis.

Owner Pat Bowlen is a contributor finalist along with former Cowboys executive Gil Brandt. And former Broncos defensive backs Champ Bailey, Steve Atwater and John Lynch are among the modern-era finalists. Each needs at least 80 percent approval from the committee to get in. The class will be announced Saturday evening during NFL Honors and enshrined in Canton on Aug. 3.

Here’s a closer look at the Broncos finalists and their chances of making it:

Pat Bowlen, owner The accolades and the numbers are simply astounding. Why — after nearly 35 years of owning the Broncos, after a combined 91 seasons on 15 different NFL committees, and after feats that include becoming the fastest owner (581 games) to 350 overall wins and earning as many Super Bowl appearances (seven) as losing seasons — is Bowlen not already enshrined in Canton?

That question figures to disappear this weekend. Bowlen may be the closest there is to a lock for election.

Consider his lengthy résumé:

During Bowlen’s ownership, the Broncos have the third-highest winning percentage (.598) in the NFL and the fifth-highest in all of U.S. professional sports.

He is the only NFL owner in history to have had four head coaches lead his teams to Super Bowl appearances.

Under his watch, the Broncos became the only NFL franchise to win at least 90 games in each of the last three decades (they are on pace to win 90 again in the 2010s).

In his 35 years as owner, the Broncos have sold out every regular-season and postseason contest (league- high 300 sellouts) as part of the franchise’s 49-year, 403-game sellout streak. It is the longest streak in NFL history in one city.

The Broncos have played in 349 nationally televised games, which include 164 in prime time, during Bowlen’s ownership. Both are league-highs in that span.

Since he purchased the team, the Broncos have had 18 playoff berths (third-most among owners in that span) and 13 AFC West crowns.

As a steward of the league, he helped broker the NFL’s $18 billion TV contract in 1998, then the most lucrative single-sport contract in history. He was a visionary, with Dick Ebersol, in creating “Sunday Night Football”; he helped with the formation of the NFL Network; was a proponent of international expansion; and played a key role in the labor negotiations with players in 2006 and 2011.

And as a local ambassador, he has contributed close to $30 million to charitable organizations in Denver since the inception of the Charities fund in 1993.

His work at the team level is Hall of Fame-worthy. Add in the work he has done in expanding the league’s presence and marketability, and his local contributions to the Denver metro area, and it seems there’s no way Bowlen can be denied.

His chances: Excellent. Since 2015, when the Hall of Fame added a provision for contributor finalists, only one has been denied entry: former commissioner . Tagliabue, however, was a polarizing candidate, in large part because of his initial view on concussions, which he infamously once deemed “one of these pack journalism issues.”

Although a dispute over Bowlen’s succession plan is brewing in the background, his tenure as owner has been met with praise and admiration from those who worked with him and played for him.

Simply put, Bowlen is overdue for election to the Hall.

“In reality, if you look at the modernization of the , the impact of Pat Bowlen was absolutely profound,” said David Hill, the former president of Fox Sports. “He had a very pragmatic way of looking at things. He wasn’t one to let the mantra ‘that’s the way we do things’ get in the way. He was always curious. He could see the media changing dramatically and he was probably one of the first owners to see the football team as a family business.

“I think Mr. Bowlen is a slam-dunk Hall of Famer. I get emotional kind of talking about it because he’s the type of owner that checked his ego at the door. He bleeds orange and blue. He loves his players, he loves his coaches, he loves the fans. He was so quick to give credit to everybody else, I think it’s time to give him a little bit of credit.”

Champ Bailey, Described by his peers as a generational athlete, Bailey spent 15 years in the NFL after a standout career at Georgia, where he was undoubtedly one of the game’s finest three-way players. He was a cornerback by title but could line up at receiver, at , at kick returner and punt returner.

The seventh overall pick by Washington in 1999, Bailey recorded a total of 52 , including three in a single game his rookie year and 10 in 2006 — a season deemed by many to still be the finest by a cornerback.

With 4.2 speed, an athleticism few could match and football instincts that allowed him to match up with top receivers, Bailey earned 12 selections that stand as the most by a corner and the second- most among the finalists for 2019. (Former tight end Tony Gonzalez earned 14.)

The blockbuster trade that landed him in Denver in 2004 essentially offered him a chance to have a second memorable career. And he did. As a Bronco, Bailey had 34 interceptions and led the team in picks five times. His 162 return yards in 2006 rank second in franchise history and he is the only Bronco to have an interception in five consecutive games (2005). He was also voted first-team all-pro and second- team all-pro four times each and is remembered today as one of the original — and few — true shutdown corners.

His chances: Very good. It appears likely that Bailey will go in as a first-ballot Hall of Famer and, with Bowlen, expand the Broncos representatives in Canton to seven. If in the very, very small chance he’s denied, he is all but guaranteed he will go in soon.

Steve Atwater, safety In the week leading up to the Broncos’ Monday night game against the Chiefs in 1990, Denver safeties Atwater and Dennis Smith came up with a game plan to stop Christian Okoye, Kansas City’s 6-foot-1, 260- pound back nicknamed the Nigerian Nightmare.

They couldn’t hit him low, or try to jump on his back and hope he falls to the ground. Others tried that with little success. No, the Broncos had to hit him straight on.

So when Atwater got his opening, he lowered his shoulder and stopped Okoye in his tracks. Atwater is still asked about that hit more than 28 years later. But it was one of many hits that defined his career as a Ring of Fame safety for the Broncos.

During his 10-year career in Denver, Atwater started all 155 games he played, earned all-pro honors three times and was voted to eight career Pro Bowl selections, the second most by a player in Broncos history (his seven consecutive selections from 1990-96 tie a franchise record). He led the team in tackles twice, in 1993 and 1995; ranks second to only John Elway in career postseason starts by a Bronco (14 playoff appearances) and was instrumental in the Broncos’ first two Super Bowl wins. In Super Bowl XXXII, Atwater totaled six tackles, one sack, one forced and two pass breakups.

His chances: Decent. Good luck finding someone who believes Atwater is undeserving of a Hall nod. He has been a finalist twice now for good reason. But the issue he may run into this year really has nothing to do with his career. It’d be more about the other finalists vying for one of those coveted spots in the Hall. Three safeties are finalists with Atwater, Lynch and , and the latter appears to be a sure-thing for the class of 2019. If Atwater is on the bubble, does he make it in over Lynch, who has a been a finalist six times? And do the four offensive linemen on the docket edge him out?

If it’s not this year, the fact that Atwater made it as a finalist in 2016 and then again in 2019 bodes well for his eventual election. Since 1970, a total of 89.3 percent of all finalists have eventually earned election to the Hall of Fame.

John Lynch, safety Lynch’s six times as a finalist are the most of this year’s modern-era finalists. Every year since 2014, his career has essentially been deemed worthy of making it to Canton, but each time his selection as a finalist has been simply a tease. Close but not close enough.

This time around he’s in a similar situation as Atwater as a hard-hitting, Super Bowl-winning safety on the edge for the Hall. With the competition at safety, the quartet of offensive linemen vying to get in, he too, could leave Atlanta hoping 2020 will bring more luck. But his résumé will give the voters plenty to ponder.

Lynch spent his first 11 NFL seasons in Tampa Bay, anchoring one of the finest defenses in NFL history, before signing with the Broncos in 2004 and playing his final four years in Denver. A member of both the Buccaneers’ Ring of Honor and Broncos’ Ring of Fame, Lynch totaled 26 interceptions returned for 204 yards, 13 sacks, and more than 1,000 tackles in his career. He won Super Bowl XXXVII as a Buc, earned nine total Pro Bowl selections and was an all-pro selection four times.

His chances: Decent. Six times as a finalist — that’s a message that Lynch will get in. The fact that he earned four Pro Bowl selections with two different teams puts him in rare company — made up of mostly Hall of Famers. Maybe 2019 is his year. It’s possible he’ll have to wait a bit longer, but the end game appears pretty clear for Lynch. He’ll be a Hall of Famer at some point. C.J. Anderson’s brain — not his frame — turned him into an invaluable piece of the Rams’ offense By Lindsay Jones The Athletic Jan. 31, 2019

Enough with the fat jokes.

Yes, C.J. Anderson is bigger now than he’s been at any other time in his NFL career, 235 pounds, he says, up about 10-15 pounds from his previous playing weight earlier in his career. But he’s not here in Atlanta with the preparing to play in his third Super Bowl in seven years because of his body. He’s made himself an invaluable member of the Rams’ offense over the past month because of his brain.

To understand how Anderson created a role for himself on the Rams in just four games, you’ve got to go all the way back to the start of his career, to 2013 when he was an undrafted rookie buried on the depth chart of a record-setting Broncos offense.

All those weeks that Anderson wasn’t playing, he was learning. In breaks between his running back meetings and offensive team sessions, Anderson invited himself into the defensive meeting rooms. He’d slide into a chair and watch how the pass rushers and studied film, studied the way defensive players would try to beat offensive linemen and attack wide receivers.

“It was a way sneaky to way to get to talk to Champ Bailey a lot more. He’s a childhood hero,” Anderson said of the former Broncos’ cornerback, whose final season of a likely Hall of Fame career coincided with Anderson’s rookie year. “When you get in and try to learn the game and see what he sees, see how he breaks down schemes and systems and understands what routes receivers are running based off learning the splits, that helps you when you’re on offense to see if you could catch any tendencies.”

Anderson would sit down with the offensive linemen, in their own meeting rooms, to learn the blocking assignment for all five positions. If he was going to be expected to find the hole and make a cut, he wanted to know where it was coming from, and why.

“The No. 1 thing that great running backs do that does not show up on the stat sheet is they use offensive linemen and predict how their OL are going to block a defender, and then they run off of that,” former Broncos left tackle Ryan Harris said. “I was lucky enough to play with Jamaal Charles and Le’Veon Bell, and C.J. does that just as good as both of those guys do. The only way you learn that is from studying film. As a running back, yeah you have blitz responsibilities, but the great running backs study how their offensive linemen are going to handle a block and then they play off it.”

And, perhaps most important, he began pestering Peyton Manning, peppering the veteran quarterback with questions, hovering near Manning’s locker after film sessions to find a way to ask one more question. By the time Anderson and Manning reached their second Super Bowl together in February of 2016, Anderson was the starter who had earned Manning’s trust. He was a peer, not a pest.

“With those two, they were on the same page all the time,” said former Broncos running back Juwan Thompson, who backed up Anderson from 2014-2016. “I’ve seen times where he’d get Peyton’s attention and be like, ‘No, no, no, you’re supposed to check here, or check there.’ He had the courage to tell Peyton he was wrong. It’d be like, ‘It’s OK if you do it wrong, but you’re wrong in that situation.’ He was a second pair of eyes for Peyton, and Peyton didn’t mind him saying that, because CJ had earned that. It was like, shit, he knows damn thing he needs to know before that ball is hiked.”

These were the type of stories Rams running backs coach Skip Peete heard when he started calling around in late December to gather background information on Anderson, who signed with the Rams before Week 16 as an emergency fill in for star Todd Gurley, who was had suffered a knee injury and needed to rest for the playoffs.

Peete’s first call was to , Anderson’s former position coach with the Broncos, and the next was to Raiders running backs coach , who had coached Anderson for just one week earlier this year. Peete had watched Anderson from afar in recent years, but he wanted to know if Anderson, who had been released by three teams, the Broncos, the Panthers and Raiders, in 2018, would be mentally ready to play on short notice.

No question, Peete was told. Within days, Peete saw why.

Anderson’s first day and a half at the Rams’ facility in Thousand Oaks, Calif. was spent working with Peete, translating the Rams’ offensive playbook from the language Anderson was familiar with from his five years in Denver and his stints earlier this year in Carolina and Oakland, to Sean McVay’s verbiage. Five days later, he was on the field in Arizona, rushing for 167 yards (and a crazy 8.3 yards per carry) in his first game action in nearly two months. He followed that debut with 132 yards against the Niners in Week 17, and 123 yards and two in a divisional round playoff win against Dallas.

“Very, very sharp. First week, maybe one or two [mistakes], but he doesn’t make very many mistakes,” Peete said. “To me, he is a role model for a lot of running backs, here’s a guy who has come full circle.”

The Rams’ running game sputtered in the NFC championship game — Anderson had just 44 yards on 16 attempts, and Gurley had rushed for just 10 yards — but his biggest contribution came on the sideline, as he talked Rams quarterback Jared Goff through things he was noticing about the Saints’ defense. This week Anderson said he recalled prior film study on the Saints (he never played during his time in Carolina, but there were common opponents, and he faced the Saints while with Denver in 2016) and helped Goff make second-half adjustments based on things he remembered about defenses coached by Dennis Allen.

“I think the experience helps with that. Football don’t change,” Anderson said. “I’ve got great respect for , just like I have respect for Dennis Allen and Matt Patricia, but some of these coordinators, I don’t want to say they’ve had the same system forever, but some of these coordinators get comfortable, you can kind of understand what it’s going to be, and when you watch the tape over and over and over and over, there might be subtle adjustments during a game, but when you watch the tape over and over, you know what Dennis Allen can potentially do in this time. If you see it at the right time, take advantage of the opportunity.”

Indeed, that’s what these past six weeks or so have been for Anderson, the chance to capitalize on an opportunity he thought wasn’t going to come in 2018. The Broncos released Anderson in April to both free up cap space and clear a path for younger, cheaper running backs. He signed with the Panthers in May, believing he’d share carries with Christian McCaffrey. That split never happened. McCaffrey emerged as the Panthers’ top offensive player, and the Panthers cut Anderson in mid-November. He went on to spend one week with the Raiders, but his time with his hometown team was short lived, and he hit the open market once again when injuries forced Oakland to sign two offensive linemen.

“It wasn’t cause of talent. I don’t want to overbeat it, but it wasn’t a talent issue,” Anderson said. “It’s timing and circumstances.”

He figured that was probably it for 2018. He followed through on plans to relocate to Houston with his pregnant fiancée and started focusing on 2019, when he assumed he’d sign a new contract with a new team and welcome his first child, a daughter, later this spring. But then came Gurley’s injury, an immediate need for a veteran running back on a playoff-bound team, a flurry of social media commentary of his new, thicker physique and those back-to-back-to-back 100-yard games and another trip to the Super Bowl.

“At the end of the day,” Anderson said, “you have to believe in your talent and what you can do.”

Roger Goodell calls Broncos ownership dispute 'sad,' says NFL may get involved By Troy Renck KMGH Jan. 31, 2019

The Broncos became a topic during Super Bowl week, but not in way they are accustomed. Denver has appeared in eight Super Bowls. Wednesday, commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about the Broncos ownership drama, which includes multiple children expressing desires to own the team and a lawsuit from owner Pat Bowlen's brother Bill Bowlen, who wants the trust abolished, while the Broncos have requested the NFL arbitrate the issue.

"As you know, this is an ongoing dispute. It is one that our office and myself in particular may be involved with, so I am limited in how much I can say at this time," said Goodell at his annual Super Bowl press conference. "I guess I'd say in the short term, that it's sad when disputes like this occur. It's not something I think Pat Bowlen, who I knew very well, would have wanted. The Broncos meant a great deal to him and his family."

Long before stepping away from daily operations in 2014 because of Alzheimer's, Pat Bowlen appointed a trust to execute a succession plan to choose the most qualified of the seven children from two separate marriages. Last spring, Beth Bowlen Wallace went public with her desire to own the team. The trust -- it's a three-person group of Joe Ellis, Rich Slivka and Mary Kelly -- responded with a statement saying Wallace "was not capable or qualified at this time." In October, Brittany Bowlen, considered the favorite of the trust because of her educational background and her stint working in the NFL office, went public with here interest in running the Broncos.

"Right now my father (Pat Bowlen) is the owner, but unfortunately he can't be there day-to-day. I do have ambition to one day become the controlling owner of the Denver Broncos," said Brittany Bowlen, 29. "I have that ambition and I will keep working toward that goal."

Another wrinkle emerged recently when Bill Bowlen, who sold his ownership stake, filed a lawsuit, asking a judge to remove the three trustees. The Broncos responded, revealing their desire to the court to have the NFL arbitrate the issue, which Goodell referred to in his response.

"I think this week," said Goodell, "the best thing we can do is focus on Pat and his contributions and his candidacy to become a new member of the Hall of Fame."

This is the backdrop as Bowlen remains a finalist for the NFL Hall of Fame after overseeing the Broncos' 18 playoff berths, 12 division titles and three Super Bowl titles since purchasing the team in 1984. The selection committee meets Saturday, on the eve of the Super Bowl 53, with Bowlen and the finalists, including Champ Bailey, John Lynch and Steve Atwater, requiring 80 percent for election. Bowlen and Bailey are considered strong favorites to earn induction.

“I completely agree with the commissioner on this. There is no place for my actions with the trustees in this weekend," Bill Bowlen said in a statement. "This weekend is about Pat’s contribution to the NFL. It’s a time for his family to hopefully celebrate his accomplishments.” ESPN's Paolantonio: Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen ‘going to get great support’ in Pro Football Hall of Fame selection room By STAFF DenverBroncos.com Jan. 31, 2019

On Saturday morning, ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio will enter a room with the 47 other members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee to choose the Class of 2019.

Among the finalists is Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen, who was chosen as a Contributor Committee nominee in August.

After Commissioner Roger Goodell’s press conference on Wednesday in Atlanta, DenverBroncos.com caught up with Paolantonio to get a sense of Bowlen’s chances of being elected.

Aric DiLalla: This final vote has been a long time coming for the Broncos. How do you expect this weekend to play out?

Sal Paolantonio: “I think he’s going to get great support in the room. I think it would be a shock if the full committee did not recommend that Mr. Bowlen be a contributor for the Class of 2019. I certainly will speak up on his behalf. I know there are a lot of supporters within the room for him. Total shock if he doesn’t get in.”

AD: When you think about his impact on the game, how do you balance what he did for the NFL vs. the success of the franchise?

SP: “I think the success of the franchise speaks for itself. He’s basically personally responsible for bringing professional football to the mountain west [region] and expanding the game to an audience that has obviously embraced it [and] become very important to professional football and to football in general in Denver, in Colorado, in Utah, in Kansas and Nebraska, in Wyoming and Montana and all over the mountain west. I know the Broncos have a huge following. I would call them one of the top five franchises in the National Football League under Mr. Bowlen’s stewardship in the last 30 years.

“And then, globally from a standpoint of his contributions, he is more responsible than any other person for growing the game on television. That’s a pretty bold statement. Pat Bowlen is more responsible than any other person for growing the game into a highly televised, successful sport on television.”

AD: What do you think this honor would mean to the organization and to his family?

SP: “You’d have to ask them about that, honestly. I think it’s important for Broncos fans. This is ‘The Godfather’ of professional football in Denver and Colorado and the mountain west. And ‘The Godfather’ needs to be honored by being put in the Hall of Fame."

Terrell Davis hopeful 'good friend' Steve Atwater is elected to Pro Football Hall of Fame By Aric DiLalla DenverBroncos.com Jan. 31, 2019

When Terrell Davis arrived in Denver in 1995, he knew who the two best players were on the team.

There was John Elway, the team’s franchise quarterback who led the team to three Super Bowls in the 1980s.

And there was Steve Atwater.

“I remember Steve Atwater being kind of that mentor to me when I first got there, telling me things that he saw from me in the backfield and helping me be a better player,” Davis said Wednesday. “Steve had just been a tremendous leader for the Broncos organization for a very long time. Even before I got to the Broncos, I just remember Steve Atwater and John Elway being the two best players on the Broncos, and he was the best safety in his time.”

That, in part, is why Davis hopes to see Atwater elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019 when the class is chosen on Feb. 2.

“He was a two-time first-team All-Pro, eight-time Pro Bowler [and] a good friend of mine,” Davis said. “So it would mean a lot to me.”

Davis knows Atwater doesn’t have the same stats as fellow finalist Ed Reed, but Davis said he doesn’t believe you can compare players from two different eras using that metric.

“You can’t compare numbers from the safeties back then to the guys that are playing now,” Davis said. “Steve’s numbers weren’t great. I mean, he wasn’t picking the ball off a lot, but he was an enforcer in the box and he was just a tremendous player. I’m really rooting for Steve.”

Atwater, a member of the 1990s NFL All-Decade Team, will be just one option for voters in what is a crowded safety class.

Reed, former Bronco John Lynch and Atwater are all hoping to be one of the five Modern-Era finalists chosen for the Class of 2019.

Davis, though, said he thinks Atwater’s momentum may be growing.

“The last couple of years I’ve been talking to Steve about, ‘Hey, you need to come out from hiding basically. Be seen!” Davis said. “Because it helps when they see you. Not that your resume doesn’t deserve it, but there’s something about the process that when people see you, you become on the front of their minds instead of being in the back. I like to think it helped.

“He’s a finalist for the second time, and hopefully this is the year for him.” Terrell Davis on Owner Pat Bowlen's Pro Football Hall of Fame candidacy: 'The resume for him speaks for itself' By Aric DiLalla DenverBroncos.com Jan. 31, 2019

When Terrell Davis was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he dedicated part of his induction speech to Owner Pat Bowlen’s Hall of Fame candidacy.

“Let’s make sure this champion is enshrined,” Davis said in August of 2017.

Seventeen months later, Davis believes Bowlen is set to be elected as part of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2019.

“He’s certainly getting in, and I feel real confident that the committee will see fit that he gets through this year,” Davis said Wednesday in Atlanta. “I look forward to seeing that. It’s going to be fun to celebrate that.”

Bowlen, one of two Contributor Committee nominees, is a finalist for this year’s class and would be elected if he receives 80 percent of the vote during Saturday’s selection process.

“I’m excited about it,” Davis said. “In my [Hall of Fame] speech, I mentioned that I’ve been looking forward to seeing him in there. I knew he would get there, it [was] just a matter of when. So I feel like this is the year for him. It means a lot to me, it means a lot to the city of Denver [and] it means a lot to the Broncos.”

Davis, who now works has an analyst for NFL Network, pointed to the network’s growth as just one example of Bowlen’s impact.

“The resume for him speaks for itself,” Davis said. “One of the … winningest franchises in sports. Obviously three Lombardi trophies and what he’s done for the NFL Network and his advocacy for the NFL and really growing this game, it’s really been unmatched.”

To Davis, though, Bowlen was more than the team’s owner. Davis said Bowlen helped him through difficult times — like when Davis tore his ACL and Bowlen was the first to call after surgery — and celebrated with him in times of triumph. And that would make his election all the more special.

“Anybody who knows Pat Bowlen knows the owner title doesn’t quite describe who he is,” Davis said. “Pat was more than just an owner, he was a friend of mine.”

Opinion: Roger Goodell won't give NFL fans the honest answers they deserve By Nancy Armour USA Today Jan. 31, 2019

Roger Goodell is the master of double talk and untruths.

The NFL commissioner held his annual news conference at the Super Bowl on Wednesday, and there will be no bigger waste of time this week. Which is saying something, given the circus that “Media Night” has become.

Anyone hoping to get a straight answer out of Goodell on, well, anything, left sorely disappointed. He offered nothing to reassure fans that the critical no-call in the NFC Championship Game would not happen again, and made no apologies for taking 10 days to address the debacle publicly.

Pressed on the NFL’s deafening silence when fans were venting their rage in legal action and on billboards, Goodell said – with a straight face, mind you – that the league had “addressed this immediately after the game.” Sorry, talking to Saints coach and leaving him to appease the masses doesn’t cut it. Last time I checked, Payton’s title is coach not commissioner, and he’s not getting $32 million to be the face and voice of the NFL.

The NFL is closing in on $20 billion in revenue in large part because of its fans – think sponsors and TV networks would shell out the big bucks for a product nobody watches? Ask auto racing about that – and they deserve more than some canned answer Goodell could have given the night of the game.

Goodell also played dumb on all the musicians who want nothing to do with the NFL while is being blackballed, saying there were plenty of acts that wanted in on the league’s party. Perhaps. Though I doubt anyone would argue Aerosmith is a bigger draw than, say, these days.

And when Goodell was asked why bailed on a news conference that every other halftime act has done, he tried to spin it as some stroke of social media innovation. Because news conferences are not ample fodder for Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, -- you get the idea.

But most shameful was Goodell’s claim that Kaepernick would have a job if only a team thought he could help it win. As if there’s an endless supply of who took their team to a Super Bowl just hanging around, waiting to be signed. Or that Nathan Peterman, C.J. Beathard, Mark Sanchez or any of the other dozen-plus retreads who got jobs in the last two years are legitimately better options than a guy who is tied with Tom Brady for the second-lowest interception percentage in league history.

Like an offensive lineman protecting the quarterback, it is Goodell’s job to take the hits and ensure the NFL finishes the day without any mud and grass stains on its precious shield. But there’s a way to do it without insulting everyone’s intelligence, and Goodell can’t be bothered.

The Saints outrage aside, this was a tremendous year for the NFL. TV ratings rebounded; the next generation of stars emerged in , Jared Goff and Mitchell Trubisky, and there were riveting games every week of the season.

Even Thursday Night Football, which has been a dumpster fire the last few years, was compelling.

Yet in a span of about 45 minutes, Goodell managed to remind everyone of the league’s glaring weak spot: It cannot be trusted to do, or say, the right thing. It might not matter now, when the league is riding so high, but it’s hubris for the NFL to think it will always be the case.

No one expects complete transparency from Goodell. But a little sincerity, a little humility, a little accountability would go a long way in letting fans know they’re not being taken for granted.

Or, worse, taken for fools. Michael Thomas says Roger Goodell didn't talk to Saints about missed call By Chris Cwik Jan. 31, 2019

New Orleans Saints Michael Thomas hasn’t been the biggest fan of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell lately. Following the no-call in the NFC championship game, Thomas has led the charge against Goodell and the NFL, calling out the commissioner frequently on Twitter.

Thomas’ scrutiny of Goodell only got worse Wednesday after Thomas disputed something Goodell said during his Super Bowl LIII news conference.

While speaking about the no-call, Goodell told reporters he talked to Saints coach Sean Payton and the players about the situation. Thomas says that’s not true.

That should only further enrage Saints fans who are upset about what they view as a lacking response from the league.

Those Saints fans have been vocal about their opinion the past few weeks. Some local bars and restaurants in New Orleans aren’t even planning to air Super Bowl LIII after the Saints lost in the NFC championship game. Saints owner Gayle Benson has vowed to push for rule changes as a result of the play.

At this point, it’s far too late for the NFL to make any drastic changes. Thomas and Saints fans will have to deal with their team missing out on Super Bowl LIII.

While that will come as a disappointment for most Saints fans, at least they’ll have Thomas’ Twitter account to keep them company during the game. He should have some entertaining things to say.

Roger Goodell breaks silence on controversial no-call in NFC championship game By Charles Robinson Yahoo Sports Jan. 31, 2019

After failing to publicly address one of the biggest officiating failures in the history of his tenure as NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell finally spoke Wednesday about the controversial no-call in the NFC championship game that arguably denied the New Orleans Saints a trip to Super Bowl LIII.

His response: These things happen and the NFL simply has to do better.

“We understand the frustration of the fans,” Goodell told media after making remarks about the upcoming Atlanta Super Bowl. “I’ve talked to coach [Sean] Payton, the team the players. We understand the frustration that they feel right now. We certainly want to address that.

“Whenever officiating is part of any kind of discussion postgame, it’s never a good outcome for us. We know that. Our clubs know that. Our officials know that. But we also know our officials are human. We also know that they’re officiating a game that moves very quickly and have to make snap decisions under difficult circumstances. And they’re not going to get it right all the time.””

Goodell wasn’t specific on how the officiating problems would be addressed beyond explaining that mistakes were recognized and the league feels it has been as accountable as it can be without changing the outcome of a game or replaying it – which it won’t do. It also won’t make any guarantees about officiating or replay undergoing massive changes, once again echoing the oft-used “we don’t know about the unintended consequences of rule changes” defense. That said, Goodell allowed that there will be conversations about replay in the offseason.

“We will look again at instant replay,” Goodell said.

That’s unlikely to quell the unrelenting frustration and anger of Saints fans, but Goodell’s tone was largely expected after nearly 11 full days of public silence from the league office. This despite political and legal volleys toward the NFL, following the failure of an official to call a pass-interference penalty on Los Angeles Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman in the NFC title game. The play, which occurred late in the game and likely would have resulted in a key first down for the Saints, essentially denied New Orleans a chance to run down the clock and kick a game-winning field goal as time expired in regulation. New Orleans eventually lost in overtime to the Rams.

Asked why he waited so long to address the controversy publicly as fans in New Orleans boiled, Goodell not-so-subtly appeared to point the finger at the Saints’ Payton. After declining to say precisely what transpired between himself and Payton, Goodell noted that it was Payton who revealed in the immediate wake of the title game loss that Goodell and other league officials had already admitted the officiating error.

“We addressed this immediately after the game,” Goodell said. “We spoke to the coach. The coach announced the conversation and the fact that this play should have been called. We had several conversations with those clubs and other officials over the next several days. That’s our process. It’s what we always do with particular judgement calls.”

Since that moment, Payton has repeatedly outed the league for privately admitting the officiating error, while fans have been up in arms over the mistake, going as far as creating a rap video, a federal lawsuit against the league and even digging into NFL bylaws to see if the Rams’ win could be overturned. Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana went as far as using time on the Senate floor to address the no- call, giving a presentation to lawmakers in which he suggested the NFL owed answers to fans about the mistake.

Roger Goodell Says NFL Teams Decide Whether to Sign Kaepernick if He Can Help Them Win By Emily Caron MMQB Jan. 31, 2019

During a press conference from Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked why quarterback Colin Kaepernick has not been signed to a team since opting out of his contract with the 49ers in March of 2017.

Goodell said that clubs are ones who determine the players on their rosters.

"I think if a team decides that Colin Kaepernick or any other player can help their team win, that's what they'll do," Goodell said. "They want to win and they make those decisions individually in the best interest of their club."

When pressed about Kaepernick's extended free agency again, Goodell reiterated: "Our clubs are the ones that make decisions of players they want on their roster."

Goodell also addressed the controversial no-call from the NFC Championship Game between the Saints and Rams, among a host of other topics on Wednesday.

Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem in August 2016 to racial inequality and police brutality. The drew national attention, sparking controversy and debate across the country and within the NFL. Following the 2016 season, Kaepernick opted out of his contract with the 49ers.

Amid speculation that the quarterback was being blackballed for his stances, the NFLPA filed a grievance against the NFL on behalf of Kaepernick and former 49ers teammate . The lawsuit alleges that team owners and the league, influenced by President , colluded to prevent the player's employment because of protests.

While Reid, who became a free agent last offseason after starting 12 of 13 games for San Francisco, was picked up by the , Kaepernick has been unable to secure another contract since and remains on the free agent quarterback market.

The Year the N.F.L. Bounced Back By Kevin Draper Times Jan. 31, 2019

After the N.F.L.’s best season in years, Roger Goodell, the league’s commissioner, got his chance to crow on Wednesday afternoon ahead of its showcase event.

“This season has demonstrated that there has never been a better time to be a part of the N.F.L.,” Goodell said. “Our game is getting better and better, and our engagement and popularity is unmatched in today’s media landscape.”

Under Goodell, the N.F.L. has tried to be everywhere all the time. The combine, the draft and the minicamps have become manufactured events unto themselves; there are now games on Thursday nights and some, played in London, early on Sunday mornings; and most games have remained on network television even as other sports have largely moved their games to cable and now streaming.

A year ago, the strategy was under stress. Then the emergence of a new crop of young stars and a largely controversy-free season combined to drive up television ratings and produce a spectacular weekend of conference championships, capping a winning streak that began with a surprisingly fervent auction for rights to the league’s least popular slate of games.

Coming off the 2017 season, after television ratings had dropped 17 percent over the previous two years, the league entered the media market trying to sell the rights to “Thursday Night Football.” CBS and NBC had both said they lost money showing Thursday games, and they weren’t willing to pay much more than the $450 million combined they were paying each year.

Then, as in 1993, when an audacious bid for N.F.L. rights ignited a scramble that sent their value soaring, Rupert Murdoch came to the rescue. Fox agreed to pay $660 million annually to show “Thursday Night Football.”

Murdoch’s market-resetting bid came shortly after he agreed to sell the vast majority of his empire to Disney, leaving him with a significant need for marquee programming on his network. Also, there was real competition from a tech company.

Brian Rolapp, the N.F.L.’s chief media and business officer, said in an interview in September that Fox did not submit the highest bid. A tech company did, he said, though he would not reveal which one.

“We turned down higher bids,” he said. “When you put a game exclusively on digital, are you growing the distribution and availability, or are you limiting it, and to the extent how much? And for us, we weren’t sure we wanted to do that yet.”

In other words, the N.F.L. stuck to its foundational game plan to be everywhere and accessible. After two seasons of turmoil, the league opted not to break away from its longstanding strategy, but instead doubled down on it.

Plenty of dangers still lurk. Football’s concussion crisis threatens the viability of youth football. Colin Kaepernick’s collusion case against the league drags on, suggesting he has a chance to win, and attendance was down to its lowest level in eight seasons. Instead of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady or Rams Coach Sean McVay, the biggest topic ahead of the Super Bowl remains atrocious officiating. The league’s collective bargaining agreement with its players expires in two years, and negotiations will be tough.

But Rolapp’s big bet paid off. Every time slot for N.F.L. games, including Thursday night’s, earned higher television ratings this season, a total gain of 5 percent.

Incidents of violence against women continued to plague the league. The cut the Pro Bowl running back Kareem Hunt during the season after video showed him shoving and kicking a woman. later reported that the N.F.L. failed to question Hunt about the incident during an interview earlier in the year.

The cut Reuben Foster after his second arrest on domestic violence charges in 2018, and three days later he was claimed by Washington, a move that garnered substantial criticism. TMZ also published video of Washington safety Montae Nicholson punching out a man.

But Goodell and the N.F.L. limited their unforced errors. There was nothing like the drawn-out legal battle over deflated footballs in 2015 and 2016. And once the N.F.L. realized the opposition it would face if it pushed ahead with a rule mandating players on the field to stand during the national anthem, the league backed off.

Young players like Patrick Mahomes, Baker Mayfield, Mitchell Trubisky and Saquon Barkley became stars in 2018, pointing the way to a post-Brady world. High-profile quarterbacks like Russell Wilson and Andrew Luck returned to form. High-octane passing offenses took over the league.

It all came together in the conference championship games, which featured the four highest seeds and the four highest-scoring teams. Two veteran quarterbacks, Drew Brees and Brady, took on the best young quarterbacks, Jared Goff and Mahomes, in high-scoring shootouts that went to overtime.

David Berson, the president of CBS Sports, which will televise the Super Bowl on Sunday, said fewer off- the-field stories were getting attention “because the on-field product is so compelling.” Whether Berson is correct or whether the league simply had a year with fewer controversies ultimately does not matter all that much to the league’s media partners because, as Berson put it, “The focus is on the football, and the football is really exciting.”

There were blown calls and rules controversies, of course. The N.F.C. championship game hinged on an egregious no-call, and Brady and the Patriots also benefited from a questionable ruling and a rule that did not allow Mahomes — probably the league’s most valuable player — to get his hands on the football in overtime. But the arguments garnered more attention for the game, which was just what the league wanted.

The question now is whether this fundamentally violent sport can be made safer. Before the season, the N.F.L. introduced a rule barring players from using their helmets as weapons when tackling. Six weeks into the season, its enforcement was essentially abandoned, underscoring how difficult it is to legislate between acceptable and unacceptable levels of violence.

According to league statistics, concussions were down 29 percent in 2018, to 0.5 per game from 0.7. Jeff Miller, the N.F.L.’s executive vice president for health and safety, cautioned on a recent conference call that “there is no finishing line” when it comes to player safety, but touted the work being done to get players to wear better helmets and to present teams with targeted interventions to prevent concussions.

The league’s own concussion data show that the number of concussions each year fluctuates, and that previous reductions were reversed in following seasons. The N.F.L. has also not been able to reduce the instances of A.C.L. and M.C.L. tears, ligament injuries that commonly end players’ seasons.

The youth tackle football participation rate has been dropping for a decade, and now the high school tackle football participation rate is declining, too. Just one insurance company is willing to cover professional football leagues for head trauma, according to ESPN, and youth football leagues and school districts are facing insurance premiums that they are struggling to afford.

In the off-season, the N.F.L. is likely to receive a ruling in the Kaepernick collusion case. His grievance, which was filed 15 months ago, still hasn’t been heard. It remains difficult for collusion to be proven, but if Kaepernick wins, he could be awarded tens of millions of dollars, and evidence uncovered in discovery and depositions could become public.

Attendance in 2018 fell to its lowest level since 2011. This drop will be rectified in part in 2020 when the move from a 27,000-capacity soccer stadium to a 70,000-capacity football stadium, but Washington, Tampa Bay and Cincinnati all suffered big drops.

The N.F.L. operates on two planes: the day-to-day of small crises and opportunities, and the issues that could take a bite out of the $15 billion-a-year league. Most things fall into the first bucket, with no chance of harming a league whose revenue inches upward each season because of television contracts signed earlier in this decade.

Over the next decade, the N.F.L.’s ability to handle the changing media and technology environment and the mounting health and safety challenges is likely to determine whether it reaches its goal of $25 billion a year in revenue by 2027 and remains at the pinnacle of American sports.

Arthur Blank, the owner of the , is confident the league will continue to prosper. He believes the N.F.L. will receive even more money when contracts to telecast Sunday and Monday games expire after the 2021 and 2022 seasons because of “the number of ways the product is distributed these days,” he said.

But the root of Blank’s confidence is the league’s longstanding strategy. “The core of it is still going to be over-the-air free television,” he said. “That’s not going to change.”

Atlanta Stokes a Civil Rights Conversation for Some Super Bowl Players By Ken Belson New York Times Jan. 31, 2019

It is doubtful that the N.F.L. owners understood, when they decided early in 2016 to play the Super Bowl here, how the city of Atlanta, as the cradle of the civil rights movement, would serve as a natural forum for the many complicated social and racial issues that have roiled the league in recent years.

Now, many players are showing that the moment is not lost on them.

On Tuesday, Devin McCourty, a team captain on the , and several of his teammates boarded a bus to pay homage at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood of Atlanta.

“Today, when we have a little time off, guys are searching for something to do so they’re not just sitting in a hotel room,” McCourty said Tuesday. “With this game, everything is focused on playing Sunday. But when you step back and think about it, what better way to be on this stage, with this platform, but also to get a big dose of what’s really important.”

Often, the Super Bowl city is merely a prop for the game and parties. The Patriots, who face the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, have played for the championship in , Houston and Glendale in the past five years. But Atlanta, and what it has stood for, resonates on a deeper level in light of contemporary issues in the league.

McCourty saw that. He is one of the leaders of the Players Coalition, a nonprofit group that formed to improve social justice and racial equality. It was organized even before the kneeling protests against racism and police brutality initiated by the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in the 2016 season.

The Patriots’ visit to King’s birthplace, his church and a visitor’s center was ad hoc; McCourty wanted to go and eventually an invitation was extended to his teammates. Ten more signed up.

Players in the Super Bowl rarely get out to see the sights, but this group, with the issues they champion so embroidered in the dialogue of the N.F.L., said they were determined to make Atlanta’s civil rights history part of their experience.

“Any time I come to the South, I think of my parents,” said Matthew Slater, a wide receiver on the Patriots whose parents grew up in Mississippi before schools were integrated. “This is pretty surreal being here. It makes you realize there are things in life that are much bigger than football. At the end of the day, life is so much bigger than what happens in that game on Sunday.”

This season, the clamor over the protests largely faded as only a handful of players — Kenny Stills of the among them — continued to kneel during the anthem. And before the season began, the N.F.L. backed off a plan to penalize players who do so.

Still, the debate about the protests and their effect on the league has not been resolved. Kaepernick and another player who knelt, Eric Reid, have cases pending against the N.F.L. accusing it of colluding to keep them off teams in retaliation.

And the choice of to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl brought the issue back into the spotlight because of comments she had made taking a swipe at Kaepernick and other players who did not stand for the anthem. “It is unfortunate that our national anthem has been dragged into this debate when the distinctive senses of the national anthem and fighting for justice should each stand alone,” she said in a statement to news organizations.

The N.F.L. also abruptly canceled a news conference with the halftime act, Maroon 5. The events are normally controversy-free. But several pop stars said they would not perform with the band because of the league’s stance on the protests during the playing of the anthem.

The league is also on the defensive because the number of minority head coaches fell by half, to four, after the latest round of firings at the end of the season.

McCourty and his teammates seemed eager to move on from such controversies and focus on the work they are doing to affect change.

“For a time, it was about the anthem, but really, it had nothing to do with the issues in our country,” said McCourty, who off the field has fought for juvenile justice reform. “With the anthem, people would just see, is he taking a knee, is he in the locker room. But for players, we didn’t care about that. We care about doing things that help students, help youth, help people in the community.”

In many ways, the struggle between trying to effect change through protest and the work of lobbying elected officials and working with social advocacy groups was foreshadowed by Dr. King more than a half- century ago.

In the visitor center across the street from reflecting pool where King and his wife, Coretta, are interred, Devin McCourty’s twin brother, Jason, a cornerback on the Patriots, was watching a video of King’s efforts, in 1968, to boost the wages of sanitation workers in Memphis. As the video illustrated, King was assassinated there and his widow ended up holding the peaceful march through the city that her husband had planned.

“You start to realize that as important is football is, you start to get married families and have kids, there are bigger things that surround us,” he said. “Though there’s a ton of work still to do, being in this museum and seeing how different times were makes you realize there was some great work done. You didn’t realize how bad it was.”

The players took in the magnitude of the moment. After listening to a park ranger talk about the sanctuary in Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King was a co-pastor, the players got out of the pews, formed a circle in front of the podium where King gave his sermons, held hands, closed their eyes and prayed.

“Let’s just let this sink in,” said Jack Easterby, a coach who helped organize the excursion. “We will tell our children that standing in front of Dr. King’s church, that it hasn’t always been the way it is now.”

Another reminder of the tension between protest and change was on display a few miles away, at the High Museum of Art. There, an exhibit by Glenn Kaino, a conceptual artist from Los Angeles, brings to life the one-armed salute by the sprinter Tommie Smith at the Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968. The decision by Smith and his teammate, John Carlos, to raise their clenched fists while wearing black gloves on the winner’s podium remains one of the most iconic gestures in sports and beyond.

Through prints, sculpture, video and items from Smith’s archives, the exhibit entitled, With Drawn Arms, shows how Smith, a world-record holder before the Olympics, was outspoken on issues of social injustice well before he raised his fist. It also showed how his views were framed by the media. One set of panels shows the cover of Newsweek magazine from July, 1968, with Smith’s photo and a headline, the Angry Black Athlete.

A four-minute trailer for an accompanying documentary played on a screen nearby. In one sequence, Smith and his wife, Delois, are in the White House with President Obama. In another, Smith — who lives about 20 miles from Atlanta — hugs Kaepernick.

“Tommie represents a historical moment that has a greater meaning about what went on around it,” said Michael Rooks, the curator of the exhibit, which was extended for the Super Bowl. The controversy over Kaepernick’s decision to kneel “is in the present and volatile and very much a moving target on where it will go, where the NFL will go as a policy, what it will mean for fans.”

In a large room with 144 gold-plated casts of Smith’s arm, suspended from the ceiling and arranged like a 100-foot long parabola, Enrique Beher, a cook, and Jaelyn Sims, a 20-year old student, said they were impressed with Smith’s powerful gesture, but also reminded of the debate Kaepernick started in the N.F.L.

“People think fighting for civil rights is about being against America,” Sims said. “But kneeling because you want America to be better, how is that not American?”

Ed Reed hopes Steve Atwater gets Hall of Fame call By Curtis Crabtree Pro Football Talk Jan. 31, 2019

There’s a very good chance that former safety Ed Reed will be elected to the Hall of Fame on Saturday in his first year of eligibility. However, if Reed had his say a different safety would get the call before him.

Former Denver Broncos safety Steve Atwater.

In a conversation with Adam Lefkoe and Chris Simms of Bleacher Report, Reed said he hoped Atwater would be the one getting inducted this summer.

“I pray to that Steve Atwater gets in. If I get in and he doesn’t get in, I would rather give my spot to him.” Reed said.

Atwater is one of the 15 finalists that will be up for discussion. He has been among the final 15 candidates before but has not received enough support for induction.

Atwater played 11 seasons in the NFL with 10 coming with the Denver Broncos. He appeared in 167 games and complied eight Pro Bowl selections, two first-team All-Pro selections, was named to the 1990’s All-Decade Team and won two Super Bowls with the Broncos.

Reed was even better during his 12 years in the NFL. Reed was a nine-time Pro Bowler, five-time first- team All-Pro selection (and three-time second-team All-Pro), was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2004, was named to the 2000’s All-Decade Team and won a Super Bowl with the Ravens in 2012.

“I was never about the accolades,” Reed said. “Though you know they’re there. There’s a lot of people who helped me get to this point. I’m just soaking it in right now.

“Just being in that talk is enough for me”

Reed and tight end Tony Gonzalez are the most surefire candidates to be elected to the 2019 class. Whether Atwater gets enough support when only five total nominees can be elected remains to be seen.

Phillip Lindsay set to prove himself again next year By Josh Alper Pro Football Talk Jan. 31, 2019

Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay‘s story of going from undrafted free agent to 1,000-yard rusher as a rookie is well known at this point and the next chapter will have to wait until Lindsay is healthy after season-ending wrist surgery.

Once he’s healthy, Lindsay will come into Broncos practices on much stronger footing than he was on when his rookie season got underway. He said that won’t make him complacent about where he stands in Denver because he knows that there might be another player trying to follow Lindsay’s path to the backfield.

“I’m proving myself again, every year is a new year, if you don’t produce you don’t play, you’re not the starter. … Who’s to say they don’t go get another [running back]?” Lindsay said, via ESPN.com.

Royce Freeman and Devontae Booker are both set to be back to join Lindsay in the backfield with new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello in charge of figuring out how to put them to the best use.