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Saccomano has seen it allDenver Broncos’ PR guru going into his 32nd yearJoshua Wolpe, DDN Staff WriterMonday, June 8, 2009 |  | | Saccomano |
Ever heard of the expression “the guy behind the guy?” Well, Jim Saccomano has been the “buy behind the organization” for the Denver Broncos since 1978, trying his best to make the team look good, clean up its messes and keep things cool with the media. Other than that, the job is a piece of cake.
Local roots
Saccomano, a Denver native, got his start in the world of public relations with the old Denver Bears baseball team — he served as the team’s director of public relations for three years.
The minor league team called Denver home from 1955-1992, before moving to New Orleans when the Colorado Rockies came to town.
The Broncos had just started to taste success for the first time in franchise history during the glory days of the “Orange Crush” defense when Saccomano joined the team. He has fond memories of some of the characters on those teams, including one in particular who stood out.
“Lyle Alzado was amazing — he just had ‘it,’” he said. “He was a man who probably could have been governor — his popularity and charisma were incredible.”
Saccomano has seen a sharp drop in the amount of “characters” on the Broncos in recent memory (with the exception of former running back Clinton Portis, he noted). The evolution of sports media seems to have played a large role in that transformation as it seems that every quote uttered by an athlete gets immediately dissected.
“The characters have certainly declined as time has gone on — we’ve reached a more vanilla phase of sports now. Maybe because the money is bigger, and guys are very concerned with image. You don’t have some of the guys with the element of serendipity, doing whatever seems good at the time.”
Elway years
The amount of interview requests skyrocketed after a certain Stanford quarterback arrived in Denver in 1983, giving the team stability at that position for the first time. There were 24 different starting quarterbacks wearing the orange and blue in the 23 seasons prior to John Elway’s arrival.
“I worked with John for 16 years, and I think that’s the longest time that someone like me has worked with someone like him,” said Saccomano. “Every phone call from the media began with a John Elway request.
“It seems like cliché to say that he did so much, and I’m not talking about football accomplishments because that’s obvious. But he had to deal with a lot from the fans and he did so well with it. The guy couldn’t even go to Target to pick up diapers. He had a different kind of life and, you know, it’s hard for someone like that to keep smiling and signing autographs but he did it.”
Elway’s impact with the franchise lingers even now, over a decade since he hung up his cleats. Saccomano calls him “easily” the most identifiable person with the franchise, and he doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.
For a star of Elway’s magnitude — someone who dominated the state of Colorado like no one before him — it was his desire to remain “one of the guys” that stuck with Saccomano, who recalled a fight during an exhibition game with the Minnesota Vikings to illustrate the point.
“A big fight broke out during that game and, next thing you know, John’s right in the middle of it. A couple days later, we were back on the practice field in Greeley and I said to him, ‘Gosh John, that was great but it was pretty dumb.’ And he couldn’t understand that — he said, ‘Well, why? They’re players, I’m a player, what’s the big deal?’
“That’s how he always treated himself — not like a star. He never backed out of any running in practice; actually, he’d always take the lead — every time. He was a throwback to a different era.”
Regime change
This off-season represented a significant challenge to the Broncos’ PR department. The Jay Cutler situation, coupled with the arrival of new head coach Josh McDaniels, made things interesting to say the least.
“The Cutler thing didn’t amaze me at all,” said Saccomano. “It was a huge story and we’re the state religion.”
Cutler, the former quarterback who was recently traded to the Chicago Bears, made waves over the past couple years for a few of his comments — some of which were eaten up by the media, especially when he told the Sporting News last year that he had a “stronger arm that John Elway, hands down.” Saccomano cringed when he heard that.
“I knew it would have a shelf life,” he said. “I knew it could be explained, but that it would have to be explained again and again. It’s easy to say you should be totally candid with the media — and I think you should be honest — but sometimes you have to limit the amount of honesty because if it’s sexy enough, the media will run with it.”
Through past media battles, star quarterbacks and super bowls won and lost, a pivotal year in Broncos lore was 1984, when Pat Bowlen purchased the team from Edgar Kaiser and saved the franchise, as some would say.
“He is a very down to earth guy, and actually very, very shy, which can come across to people as aloof — it’s not always easy for him to do things in public. He’s also very candid, and sometimes I try to limit that,” laughs Saccomano. “You might be surprised, but he and Jerry Jones are really close — though they are obviously extremely different.”
‘Open-ended’ job
Saccomano is still going strong — and has no plans to retire anytime soon. He calls his job situation “open-ended with the boss.” He and his wife, Jo Ann, have two children and two grandchildren, and he says his desire to spend more time with the little ones will probably determine when he calls it a career.
In addition to his Bronco allegiance, he also serves as chairman of the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, and serves on the Colorado Press Association Foundation Board. Saccomano got his bachelor’s degree from Metropolitan State College in 1970 and his master’s in journalism from the University of Colorado in 1977.
No matter when Saccomano decides to step down, he has endless memories of the team’s back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1997 and 1998. For the record, he was positive the Broncos were going to win the first one during the week leading up to the game.
“We had a great team that year and we knew it,” he said. “I thought we were really going to roll. I told everyone that asked that week that we were going to go through the Green Bay Packers like product through a goose.”
‘Cautiously optimistic’
As for this year, Saccomano acknowledges the many unanswered questions raised by the arrival of McDaniels and a new starting quarterback. He knows the defense will improve because “it almost has to.”
“McDaniels carries himself with a ton of electricity. We have a difficult schedule but I’m cautiously optimistic. There’s no question about the energy and enthusiasm around here but, hey, you gotta play the games.”
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