CANTON, Ohio – Why is Brittany Bowlen the heir apparent to fill the void at Broncos headquarters left by the late, great Mr. B? The subtle signs have been apparent for decades to anyone now searching for the answer to the most important football question in Denver:

Who will be entrusted in the future with the team’s championship dreams?

Well, perhaps the first clue could be found way back in 1998, during the celebration of the team’s first Super Bowl victory.

Brittany Bowlen was a child born into Broncomania. It’s in her blood. But as the throng in Civic Center Park cheered quarterback John Elway’s successful quest for the Lombardi Trophy on that winter afternoon back in ’98, and a triumphant Pat Bowlen raised his hands in salute to the raucous crowd, a little blonde girl, no more than 8 years old at the time, stood stoically alongside the team’s owner, her arms snugly folded across her tiny chest, in a serious pose almost identical to one often struck by her father during pensive moods.

Like father, like daughter.

On Saturday night of the late Pat Bowlen’s official induction into Hall of Fame, here’s trip down memory lane to celebration of Broncos’ first Super Bowl victory. Note the serious young girl standing next to Mr B. That’s Brittany, now heir apparent to take over team. pic.twitter.com/SLGFMgCPaa — Mark Kiszla (@markkiszla) August 3, 2019

More than two decades after that open-air party in downtown Denver to toast victory in Super Bowl XXXII, during a break Friday in the celebration for the long-overdue induction of Mr. B to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Brittany Bowlen, now 29 years old, stood alongside the lockers in the hallways of a Canton school and confessed: “I do find myself, once in a while, being with my friends and saying: ‘Is anybody having any fun around here?’”

Before her next breath, she rushed to cover her mouth with a hand. But it was already too late to catch the words that had spilled out in the same cadence, with almost exactly the same wry inflection used to punctuate one of her father’s favorite catchphrases.

“Sometimes I feel his spirit,” Brittany Bowlen admitted. “I will say something and all of a sudden, I will think: ‘Oh, my gosh, that was him (talking). That was him.”

Like father, like daughter.

It has really been no mystery which of Patrick Dennis Bowlen’s seven children from two marriages will be entrusted to be the curator of a sports-crazy city’s most-revered civic treasure, because in this melded Broncos family, it is Brittany who has always been the most genuine chip off the old Mr. B.

Like her father, Brittany Bowlen’s sense of humor is drier than a $20 martini. Back when she was a homesick freshman at the University of Notre Dame, Mr. B talked to Brittany every single day on the telephone to ensure a smart kid didn’t let normal adolescent fears sidetrack her from bigger goals. Related Articles Kiszla: This bitter Nuggets loss to LeBron James will one day bear championship fruit for Jamal Murray

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As a young business executive, this Ms. B is less inclined to give orders than to ask penetrating, direct questions. She doesn’t rattle sabers, but there’s definitely a steely edge to Brittany Bowlen.

“I think we all carry a piece of my dad with us,” Brittany Bowlen said. “And that is such a blessing, because I miss him so much.”

As does everyone in Broncos Country. Mr. B’s death was the first episode in what could evolve into the biggest soap opera in Denver.

How will the Broncos navigate the uncertainty and legal battles that could threaten the peace at the family Thanksgiving table, not to mention the stability of a team that won three championships during Mr. B’s tenure, without this melodrama becoming a $3 billion mess? Grab the popcorn. And pray for the best, Broncomaniacs.

I do not know why Mr. B did not save us all the grief by officially and legally designating one specific child to take his place as leader of the Broncos, particularly because the answer can be seen in every declarative sentence, important life choice and small mannerism Brittany Bowlen makes.

She is the chosen one. And the family knows it. You can even see this truth in the eyes of elder half-sibling Beth Bowlen Wallace, who has tried repeatedly and doggedly to stick her foot in the door of Mr. B’s office, only to have her advances for control of the franchise squashed by president Joe Ellis and the trustees that stubbornly insist only they will choose who will be owner/operator of the Broncos well into the 21st century.

Before a family squabble has any chance to escalate into a knock-down, drag-out fight that could very well damage the product on the field and might force a sale of the Broncos as the only reasonable solution, can a bright woman who has yet to celebrate her 30th birthday keep the family business together? Well, here’s your best clue, as well as the best reason for hope:

“We all loved to hear when my father used to say the Broncos are a community trust, and he was lucky to be the guiding leader,” Brittany Bowlen said.

Like her father, young Ms. B understands the Broncos are a family business … and the family includes the starting quarterback, the stadium ushers and every last orange die-hard that cheers every first down on sofas from Pueblo to Grand Junction and every square inch of Colorado in between.

A little more than 24 hours before longtime Broncos trainer Steve Antonopulos stood Saturday night inside a high-school football stadium to present his dear, late friend for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame, the guy everyone at team headquarters fondly calls “Greek” talked about Mr. B’s brave fight against Alzheimer’s disease, which ended when the owner passed away in June, at age 75.

“He handled that process of Alzheimer’s with the (same) integrity as he did doing his job,” Antonopulos said. “It was incredible.”

As Antonopulos paid tribute to Mr. B’s courage at the end of life, Brittany Bowlen stood at the right shoulder of “Greek.” Tears threatened to exit the corner of her eyes. But she did not cry. The heir apparent smiled, and tightly crossed both arms across her chest, securely cradling all the love in her heart for a dad that just happened to own the Broncos since 1984.

Like father. Like daughter.

Then. Now. Forever.