Atlanta Falcons owner and chairman Arthur Blank is right there with the entirety of Broncos Country when it comes to eagerly hoping Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen's election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame is rapidly approaching.
"I would say [the] sooner the better," Blank told 9News' Mike Klis. "Pat is a great friend and a great contributor to the National Football League. You go back and look at the 100 years of the NFL and you [see] these gentlemen, these families, were the foundation of the league. Pat and his family was certainly one of the foundational families. He served on every committee. Did everything the commissioner asked him to do. He was a great partner in the true sense of the word.
"I think about him often. I hope he's OK, as well as he can be, and certainly wish his family well."
After Bowlen stepped away from monitoring the Broncos' day-to-day operations to fight Alzheimer's disease in 2014, President and CEO Joe Ellis began leading the organization, and Blank praised the admirable work Ellis has done in Bowlen's stead.
"I sent Joe a note after one of the meetings we had,'' Blank told Klis. "I'm on the finance committee, Joe made a presentation on behalf of the family and the trustees and the process that Pat wanted to go through."
