ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — After the press conference where the Denver Broncos introduced their new ownership group, the public relations staff arranged for an informal mixer.
About a dozen or so local reporters were brought upstairs to a conference room for a get-to-know-you session with the ownership partners. It was an off-the-record setting where Rob Walton, Carrie Walton, Mellody Hobson, Condoleezza Rice and Greg Penner were far more relaxed than during their press conference. A sixth ownership partner, race-car champion Sir Lewis Hamilton, was unable to attend.
I mentioned to Rice that I was 314 pages (now 317) into her 325-page memoir “Extraordinary, Ordinary People” that honored her father and mother. Her father, John Rice Jr., had an especially strong influence on her, which she mentioned during her press conference.
“I want to thank the Walton-Penner group for this amazing opportunity,’’ Rice said during her press conference. “I’m just thrilled to be a part of this great Denver Broncos organization for a couple of reasons. One is that you have to understand how much I love football. My dad was a football coach when I was born. I was supposed to be his All-American linebacker. When he got a girl, he decided to teach her about the sport instead. Even though my father has gone to the Lord, I have to think that today he’s thinking, ‘She finally got a really important job.’"
“I want to say, too, that it’s great to be back in Denver," Rice said. "I came to Denver for the first time as a six-year-old when my family came here for my parents to go to graduate school. We returned to live here when I was 12 years old. I was taught by the Sisters of Loretta at Saint Mary’s Academy and on to the University of Denver, twice, for my undergraduate degree and my PhD.
"Through that period of time, everybody who lived here had to know that the Broncos make this community. I’m a part of the ‘Orange Crush’ generation where you’d go into any grocery store or any restaurant and there were all of those Orange Crush cans piled up with Rubin Carter or Louis Wright peering over them. Of course, the tradition was continued with the great Stanford man John Elway and Peyton Manning and others. This is a great tradition, a great heritage of winning. But the goal now is to build on that heritage and that tradition—to continue it in a way that makes for a bright future. I just know that the Walton-Penner group is dedicated to that exactly. And as Mellody said, we’re also dedicated to this community—to this wonderful place called Denver, Colorado, and I have to say a lot of places around Denver that love the Broncos. Because you know in days when communities are ripped apart by so much, the football team, like the Broncos, can be a source of unity. A source of common purpose. A source of common pride."
Hobson spends her work days in Chicago while commuting to her San Francisco home with her husband, George Lucas, and daughter.
She is co-CEO of Ariel Investments and chairwoman of Starbucks. A few months ago, she got a surprise call from Penner to join the Broncos’ ownership group.
"I have to start off by saying it is such an honor and a privilege to be an owner of this remarkable organization,’’ Hobson said in the press conference. “It really is overwhelming to even think about. The moment is humbling, and it’s historical, and yet, I feel at home. I’m very excited to be here. As someone once wrote, ‘If you are going to exceed your wildest expectations, your wildest dreams, you have to start with some pretty wild dreams’. This is certainly in that category. It is a joy to partner with other members of this ownership group—people that I’ve admired for a very long time."
Broncos introduce new ownership group
“I also want to acknowledge the bond that I feel with the players who, like me, have had to overcome a lot in their lives," said Hobson. "I know the amount of focus and discipline that it has taken for them to get here. I also know all of the people—the family at home, the community, that they are responsible for and that they really understand how much that community wants to see them win and how much they want to win for that community. I feel a bond with them, and I’m really, really happy to be a part of the organization to stand with them.
"I also want to mention Lewis Hamilton. Lewis is my chosen little brother. As soon as this opportunity came up, I started off by saying, ‘You have to have Lewis’. I met Lewis in his rookie season as an F1 Driver, and we bonded over time. As many of you know, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and I call him ‘Sir Little Brother’ as a result of that. He is the G.O.A.T in his field—the Greatest of All Time. He has this winning mentality, not just on the track, but in everything that he does. He cares deeply about people, about our planet, and as the first and only in his sport, about diversity, equity, and inclusion. I know you are going to—when you get the opportunity to meet him—love him as much as I do."
Broncos podcast: Klis' Mike Drop
Denver Broncos headlines, game previews and interviews with our 9NEWS insider Mike Klis.
HOW TO LISTEN
> Top stories curated daily just for you! Sign up for the 9NEWSLETTER to get can’t-miss stories, Next and Broncos content, weather and more delivered right to your inbox.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Locked On Broncos Podcast
MORE WAYS TO GET 9NEWS
Subscribe to our daily 9NEWSLETTER
Download the 9NEWS APP
iTunes: http://on9news.tv/itunes
Google Play: http://on9news.tv/1lWnC5n
HOW TO ADD THE 9NEWS APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KUSA.
For both Apple TV and Fire TV, search for "9news" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.