Broncos President Joe Ellis ‐ Cba Agreement Press Conference (7/25/11)

Patrick Smyth, Executive Director of Media Relations ([email protected] / 303‐264‐5536) Rebecca Villanueva, Media Services Manager ([email protected] / 303‐264‐5598) Erich Schubert, Media Relations Coordinator ([email protected] / 303‐264‐5503)

BRONCOS PRESIDENT JOE ELLIS ‐ CBA AGREEMENT PRESS CONFERENCE (7/25/11)

Opening remarks “Thanks everybody for coming on short notice. Today is a day of great excitement for us, and some relief as well, the relief part being that we get rid of some uncertainty moving forward. We’ve got football to be played, and we can get back to football. We want to thank our fans and season‐ticket holders for sticking with us through this process. It certainly tested their patience. That was understandable, but they’ve shown great support through this, and now they’re going to get what they deserve and that’s football. We look forward to getting training camp started and getting players back in here tomorrow afternoon.”

On the mood after the Owners ratified the CBA proposal on Thursday “We knew there were still some issues that needed to be hashed out, and they were hashed out. It took them a while. After we were done, the players came in and they met for a few days and went away for the weekend and came back together last night. We understood that (Commissioner) Roger Goodell spoke with (Executive Director of NFLPA DeMaurice) Smith on a daily, sometimes hourly basis, and that the communication lines stayed open, so we had hope.”

On expectations for the coming weeks “The first five‐to‐seven days will be very hectic, but our guys upstairs—(Executive Vice President of Football Operations) John Elway, (General Manager) Brian Xanders, (Head Coach) John Fox—are totally prepared for that. They knew that it was going to come down to this, I think. Having (Owner and CEO) Pat (Bowlen) on the (NFL Management Council Executive) Committee, he was able to inform them of certain schedules that may or may not take place. I think our guys have a good understanding of what needs to be done: put together our roster, get a team on the field and be prepared to play our first preseason game.”

On the lockout’s effect on a new coaching staff “We have some experience there. I think that’s going to be helpful. John Fox has been (around) a long time. He knows what he wants to do, and he and John Elway and the coaching staff put together a good plan to get everybody prepared for the season. I don’t think either of them would use the fact that this is being pushed at them at the 11th hour, or 12th hour or whatever you want to call it, as a crutch. We expect to get out and perform well and get through the preseason games and evaluate the team along the way and be ready to play on September 12 at home against the Raiders.”

On Broncos employees “We didn’t discuss any of that publicly and we won’t now. I’ll be very blunt about this: Mr. Bowlen has always done right by his employees, and he will do so in this instance as well.”

On what Pat Bowlen thinks of this CBA compared to the last “I think he thinks it’s fair for both sides. The players got some things that they were looking for and the owners got some issues taken care of that they were looking for. I think it’s a win‐win situation. I think there are some things that both sides are unhappy with which is probably an indication that it is a fair deal.”

©2011 Denver Broncos Football Club. All rights reserved. The individual quotes cited in this document may be used for the purpose of news reporting and other fair uses as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Duplication or posting of this quote sheet, in its entirety, or any other use of this material which is not a fair use as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Denver Broncos Football Club. On having the second overall draft pick (LB Von Miller) and the impact the CBA has on rookie wages “I think that’s safe to say that was timely. (LB) Von Miller is going to have a good career in this league and he is going to have a lucrative career as well. It’s just that there is a re‐shifting of how you earn that money. I think that’s one of the features of this new agreement, and that was that the money gets shifted from rookies to veterans, and the veterans were made whole through that. There were a lot of good points to the deal that did not take away from veteran pay.”

On the salary cap I’m not going to speak to that specifically, but Brian (Xanders) and John Elway can. I’ll just tell you that they were fully aware of what they needed to do. They’re executing the plan as we speak, shaping it and getting ready to get some guys in here and we’ll be fine. There will be no issues for us in that area.”

On veteran’s pay being affected by the CBA “They maintain their level of pay. There isn’t some huge decrease in pay that goes to the veterans. That should be noted.”

On the details of a cap placed on the team’s budget “There is a set dollar amount. I’m not entirely familiar with it. I just went over it with (Director of Football Administration) Mike Bluem just five minutes ago to understand what we need to do. We have a lot of guys; we have a first rounder and then two guys in the second round, so some of the money gets shifted a little differently depending on how many picks you have. For specifics, I think I'll send you upstairs to Brian and John.”

On expectations for the 2011 season “If he (Pat Bowlen) were here, he’d say 16‐0. That’s his yearly prediction. I don’t make them because you never know what happens. The goal will be to play hard every game, and John Fox will tell you it will be to win every game as well. As far as our record and how we’ll do, I can’t really speak to that.”

On what will happen in the next four‐to‐five weeks “From our standpoint, we’re going to put the best team on the field and try to win every game. That’s our duty. We don’t look at it as how we’re going to end up in the end, that’s not what we do. I know John Elway and John Fox are competitive guys. Their expectations are going to be high.”

On whether the lockout has hurt the Broncos’ brand “No, we had tremendous support from our fans, our season‐ticket holders, our club seat holders, our suite holders and our sponsors. We are really grateful for that. Now, I don’t know as we go forward with some of our business deals, whether or not that will hurt us; I can’t gauge it. I don’t think it will. I think if we come back and do everything we are supposed to do, perform well on the field and off the field as an organization, we should be okay.”

On the length of the CBA “Ten years is a lot of stability. I think it’s great for players, I think it’s great for the organizations and I think it’s really good for the fans.”

On the league revenue sharing “I think everybody ended up happy. There was a lot of compromise, and there were a lot of different positions on that. It was the subject of debate, no question, but there was a lot of compromise that took place in the end. It’s one of the great pillars of our league—revenue sharing. The amount of revenue we share amongst each other is greater than every other sports league, and to have it and further enhance it was a really good thing for our game and our fans.”

On the challenges the club faced in 2010 “I think it’s probable that we would avoid some of that. Last year at 4‐12, there was tremendous disappointment among our fan base and our community, and it was just as bad inside this building, inside this locker room, if not worse, frankly. I think a lot of that, with our new leaders in football, will go away. I just sense that everybody is pleased with the unity that we have upstairs and the bright minds and experience that we have going forward. I expect us—Mr. Bowlen expects us—to be better at everything.”

©2011 Denver Broncos Football Club. All rights reserved. The individual quotes cited in this document may be used for the purpose of news reporting and other fair uses as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Duplication or posting of this quote sheet, in its entirety, or any other use of this material which is not a fair use as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Denver Broncos Football Club. On the addition of Director of Player Development Jerry Butler and possibly bringing back former players to help the team “I don’t want to speak to that specifically. I think when John Elway came in here, and it was one of the really good suggestions that he made, he said we needed to bring more of the old Broncos back into the fold in many different ways. I will let him speak to that when you get a chance to speak with him. Jerry will be on board as the new head of player development. He works closely with them [the players] on all kinds of daily life‐skill issues and any issues that they have personally so as to try and smooth some of those things over, help them with those things so it won’t detract from their play on the field and their performance here in the building when they’re getting ready to play games.”

On whether there was any damage to the NFL because of the lockout “I don’t know. I think once we start training camp and playing game—it’s not as much as it would have been if we had started cancelling games. There is no question about that; that I do know. I’m not really getting to your question to that too much because I don’t know yet. I can’t gauge that. Like I said, we’ve had tremendous support from all of our ticket holders and all of our sponsors, and they’ve been unwavering. I think we’ve done the best we can to try and communicate with them and get them through this. They’ve had every opportunity to abandon us, there’s no question about it, and we didn’t exactly come off the field last year in a blaze of glory. That could have compounded, but football is important to people in this city and this region. We respect that, and we are really grateful for that.”

On having a veteran coaching staff “I think it does help. I think we have good people upstairs who will get these players up to speed. There may be some bumps in the road early in the preseason, but I think we’ll be fine come September 12. I know they feel that way upstairs, John (Elway) and John (Fox) and Brian (Xanders).

On Perrish Cox’s situation “I can’t say much right now. We have to let the legal process run its course. Obviously, the allegations are extremely serious, we take them seriously, and that is I’ll say right now. There will be more on that later I’m sure.”

On resolving the labor dispute “I think both sides at the end realized how good that was for business and for the game. At the end of the day, I think there was some back and forth on some clauses and whatnot, but they just elected to push that aside and move forward with that firm 10‐ year deal, which as I said is great for the game and great for the fans.”

On whether he thought games might be missed “Pat [Bowlen] didn’t. He was pretty confident, and he was right. I was a little nervous.”

On whether the terms of the CBA changed between Thursday and Monday “There were a few changes that were made. I don’t want to get into the specifics for fear of being wrong on a few them, but there were definitely a few of them that came around between Thursday and early this morning that were ironed out—with respect to some of the commercial rights and injury protection for the players. That was a very important issue for the players, and they ended up getting a very good deal out of it. There were some things that were unresolved (Thursday) that got resolved.”

On the coaching staff’s reaction to practice limitations as part of the new CBA “I think they would have preferred to have access, as any coach and his staff would, to the players for more practice time, but I think they respect the fact that what was really important to the players was their own health and safety. This is a tough game. It’s a collision sport, and players were quite adamant about getting the appropriate amount of rest and time in between practices and not overdoing it. It’s a long season. Twenty games goes from July, as you know, all the way until January, and if you’re lucky, until February. That was important to players, and I think the football people upstairs understood it and respect it, and the rules are the same for everybody. We’ll work with them.”

On whether there will be an 18‐game schedule in the future “Not in the short‐term. Eventually, it’s up in the air. In my lifetime, I don’t know. I think the players did a convincing job of stating that that was not something they favored at all, and it’s been put on hold. It will be revisited—I do think that in my lifetime (revisiting it) will happen, certainly.

On the 2011 season “Nobody here likes to use the word ‘rebuilding.’ I just think it’s a fresh start, and I think we’re off to a good start. I don’t know how things are going to go this year more than anyone in this room does, but Mr. Bowlen has said to me many times that he likes what he sees so far, which is people working hard upstairs. We haven’t seen anything out on the field, so that’s as much as we can tell you right now.”

On Pat Bowlen’s role with the new CBA “He was active in it. He was active on every call, and running back forth from his office to my office and has been quite animated in many of those conversations. He has been pretty heavily involved. Like I said earlier, he has elected to step back from the spotlight and do these kinds of things behind the scenes. I’ve never seen him with quite the bounce in his step that he had this morning. He’s quite excited, and he’s really eager to get these players in here and get camp started.”