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Gerald Phipps (March 4, 1915 – August 6, 1993) was a businessman, President of Gerald H. Phipps, Inc., a construction company, and owner of the
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
club from 1961 to 1981. Phipps and Cal Kunz purchased the Broncos from founder
Bob Howsam Robert Lee Howsam (February 28, 1918 – February 19, 2008) was an American professional sports executive and entrepreneur. In 1959, he played a key role in establishing two leagues—the American Football League, which succeeded and merged with ...
in May 1961 for less than $1 million. Phipps was chairman of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
Finance Committee from 1970 to 1981. During Phipps's tenure as owner, the Broncos earned their first trip to the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
(in 1978) participating in
Super Bowl XII Super Bowl XII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...
and saw a significant rise in Denver Broncos popularity, called "Broncomania". In 1985, Phipps became the first non-player to be inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame.Colorado Sports Hall of Fame
He is also a member of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. Phipps was also the owner of the
Denver Bears Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...
minor league baseball team. He was a director of Rocky Mountain Empire Sports Inc., which owned the Denver Bears minor league baseball team from 1947 to 1984 Gerald Phipps graduated with a BA in English from
Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...
. He and his brother Allan were inducted into the Colorado Business Hall of Fame.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phipps, Gerald 1915 births 1993 deaths Williams College alumni American construction businesspeople Denver Broncos owners 20th-century American businesspeople