DENVER — Former Denver Broncos quarterback Brian Griese, now an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers, had a special guest at Sunday’s Super Bowl: Denver Mayor Mike Johnston.
Griese and Johnston have known each other about 20 years and are longtime friends, according to the mayor’s office.
The mayor’s son accompanied him to the game, said Jordan Fuja, Johnston’s press secretary. Fuja also said no city funds were used and that Johnston paid for airline tickets and lodging out of his own pocket.
Johnston’s security detail accompanied him to Denver International Airport, as is common, but did not make the trip with him, Fuja said.
Accepting the tickets is permissible under Denver’s ethics policy, which limits gifts only in cases where the recipient is in a position to take “direct official action” with regard to the donor – and that person is doing business with the city.
Griese just completed his second season as the 49ers quarterbacks coach. He played for the Broncos from 1998 through 2002 and went on to stints in Miami, Tampa Bay and Chicago before retiring after the 2008 season.
Griese is also the founder and board president at Judi’s House in Denver, a children’s grief support center. It’s named after his mother, Judi Griese, who died of breast cancer when he was 12 years old.
Colorado Amendment 41, passed by voters in 2006, bars public employees from accepting any gift of value worth $50 or more, but it doesn’t apply to Denver. That’s because the law has an exception for home-rule cities “that have adopted charters, ordinances or resolutions that address the matters covered” by the law.
Lori Weiser, executive director of the Denver Board of Ethics, said Johnston’s acceptance of the tickets, potentially worth thousands of dollars, raised no issues under city policy.
The 49ers were the favorite of many Broncos fans on Sunday because of so many Denver connections, from head coach Kyle Shanahan to star running back Christian McCaffrey and even Griese himself.
Alas, they were met with disappointment. The Chiefs won in overtime, 25-22.
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