DENVER — When a former Bronco crosses the goal line of life, it’s time to reminisce.
Paul Howard, a standout right guard for the Broncos from 1973-86, passed away Saturday at age 70 from complications of edema. His was a life worth remembering, so much so that Ron Egloff wanted to swap stories in person.
A former sports bar tycoon in the Denver area, Egloff was a Broncos tight end and Howard teammate from 1977-83. Meeting for lunch at Skippy’s Bar and Grill -- a fine establishment in unincorporated area that is open during the pandemic to limited capacity -- in walked former offensive tackle Dave Studdard, a bit hobbled from recent spine and knee surgeries – collateral damage from protecting John Elway’s blindside -- but trim, strong and erect. Studdard had Howard as a teammate from 1979-86.
“I had him up until last week,’’ Studdard said.
There were funny stories of a bird-hunting trip, when Howard got stuck in the snow at the fleeting moment of fire, bringing profanity directed at Studdard for days, and a bear head in the freezer, a set-up gag on Egloff that had cusses going back at the laughing Howard.
As a right guard, Howard was a rock, a durable player who when he retired had tied linebacker Tom Jackson for 14 years with the club over the same 1973-86 span, and was second in games played with 187, just four less than Jackson. Reliable on Sundays, Howard was less so on Fridays.
“Paul was the kind of guy, he loved to tie one on Thursday night,’’ Studdard said. “He’d sleep in on Friday and come to practice on Saturday. He did that a couple times. And Dan (Reeves) would say, “We’re going to let the guys decide if he should play or not.’ We were like, “Are you kidding me? Are you stupid?’
“Paul would tell us, ‘You know I do this every once in a while but I’m the kind of guy who is going to kick the (bleep) out of everybody on Sunday.’ And he did. He’d get a game ball – he’d get like five of them after he came from drinking and on Saturday and Sunday he’d beat the snot out of everybody.”
The story surprised the reporter at the table but not Egloff.
“That was the same my rookie year in ’77,’’ said Egloff, who has maintained his physical fitness over the years. “Of course, back then it was six weeks of training camp. Two-a-days of full pads. A couple days into camp, we’d go to practice and, “where’s Bunsy?’’’
Paul Howard was so massively strong, his nickname was Bunsy, short for Paul Bunyan.
“He’s gone,’’ Egloff continued. “And (head coach) Red Miller comes around, ‘Anybody know where Paul is?’ So training camp, he was notorious for leaving for two or three days and coming back. And when he came back he was ready to roll.
“There was rumored one year he went up to Sturgis for three days for the bike rally. Just took off. And then he’d come back after three days of partying and …
Studdard: “He was good to go. He just needed a break.’’
Egloff: “He was so valuable that nobody suspended him or anything like that.”
It was a different time when players lived hard and played hard. Many people did in the 1970s and ‘80s. The cheesesteaks came. Studdard and Egloff sipped on soft drinks. Howard had slowed down, too. About 10 years ago or so, Howard participated in Ride the Rockies, a six-day, 300- to 400-mile tour along some of the most challenging mountain passes in Colorado.
“He was a bike rider. Seriously for a while,’’ Egloff said. “He was in the best shape I’d ever seen him in. Everything was slimmed down, he had a V-shape.”
“Until that tire blew out on him,’’ Studdard said.
It was during the Ride the Rockies, Howard was humming down a mountain pass when his tire blew and the subsequent crash tore up skin along the right side of his body from shoulder to toe.
“He picked it up again but he said he’d slide on the gravel, hit the snow, tear his ass up again,’’ Studdard said. “So he had to go to a stationary bike. He was coordinated like an octopus, (arms and legs were) flying everywhere.’’’
The most well-known Howard story was from the Broncos’ 1977 AFC Divisional Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, when he was sucker punched in the stomach by Mean Joe Greene. Only that’s the altered version.
“We’re playing and we’re having a pretty good day against Pittsburgh and all the sudden you hear somebody yelling,’’ Egloff said. “Yelling really loud and you look around and Bunsy, he’s bent over like this, holding his (groin) Everybody’s like, what the hell happened? He said, son of a (gun) Joe Greene hit me in the (groin). From then on, the public story was it was his stomach. But he hit him right square in the gonads.”
Red Miller went berserk on Steelers coach Chuck Noll after the game.
“Everybody was screaming at the officials, and of course they didn’t see anything,” Egloff said.
“They never do,” Studdard said.
“I was remembering this story,’’ Egloff said. “My wife Julie and I went to see Paul and Kathy, his first wife, they had a house in Redding, California right on Lake Shasta. So we went out to the lake and all the boats and all the toys and I said, “Paul we need some ice for this beer.’ And he said, out there in the freezer out in the garage. So I get the cooler loaded with beer and I open up the freezer door and there’s a bear’s head in the freezer. Scared the (bleep) out of me. I’m looking for ice and there’s this Bear’s head, cut off, top shelf of the freezer. He started laughing.”
There’s the bear head story.
“The best times we had together was running up to Nebraska, shooting birds,’’ Studdard said. “We had primo hunting from North Platte all the way to Ogallala as far as pheasant. One time it got so warm and we were in the back seat of a Suburban and we treated ourselves to McDonald’s for breakfast.
“Half the time we’d go to sleep and I remember I saw the birds coming. Paul was sitting on the left side where the birds were at. And each side of the road was covered with snow. Paul didn’t know that. And I go, ‘pheasants on the left.” And he grabbed his gun, throws the door open, jumps out and he’s about this high in the snow ( holds his hand up to his shoulders.) He can’t get out of it. And I’m running the other way and he’s cussing me the whole way. So I run out, ‘boom, boom, boom, boom.’ Come back, “Get any birds, big guy?’ So we pulled him out.”
“Took three of ya to get him out,’’ Egloff said.
“We barely got him out,’’ Studdard said. “I said, ‘Start digging boys.’ But he cussed me for three days.”
One more for the ditch. Howard, Studdard and Egloff once went up to Billings, Montana for a couple days of golf.
“And we’re drinking, we go back to the other bar and the owner of the other bar says where’s Paul at?’’ Egloff said. “We said, he was right behind us. Well, he stopped at another bar and ran into kids who played football there at the local college.
“Long story short he gets in a fight with them. He said he had the most fun he ever had. He came back into our bar, his shirt is all tore off. And he had a big smile on his face. We said where you’ve been? He said, I just got in a fight with all these college football players. I whipped all their asses.’ Best day of his life.”
The love Studdard and Egloff had for their teammate and friend was palpable. Eglogg had talked to Howard by phone just last week. Bunsy had said doctors were running tests trying to find out why the fluid had been building up. He told Egloff not to say anything to anybody. A few days later came the news Howard had passed.
Among his survivors are his wife of 10 years, Jacque, and daughters Nicole and Melissa from his first marriage. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.
His life was also celebrated Tuesday at Skippy’s. I texted Elway about the lunch with two of his former teammates who shared some stories about Paul Howard. The Broncos general manager and former quarterback doesn’t often respond to texts but his good friend Bunsy brought an immediate response:
“He was a great dude.''
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