From the stadium to potential new uniforms, what we learned about Broncos' new president Damani Leech

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — On Monday, as George Paton and Nathaniel Hackett cut down the roster to 53 players, Denver Broncos’ owner & CEO Greg Penner officially introduced Damani Leech as the team’s next president.

Here’s what we learned from and about the team’s new president.

Winning currency

Much like the Walton-Penner ownership group, Damani Leech’s No. 1 priority in Denver is to win football games.

“Our currency around here is winning,” Leech stated. “We are a football club. A football organization. All of the oars are in the water in that direction of being a successful football club on the field.”

The Princeton Grad pointed to Denver’s “deep tradition of winning” as a factor that was appealing to him about the Broncos. In fact, “winning” was what appealed to him about leaving the league office and joining a team.

“Winning. Winning,” he immediately said. “When you’re at a league office, you don’t often win and you don’t often lose and to be part of an organization that’s committed to winning on and off the field was incredibly attractive. But also to have an emotional investment in that success and the outcomes is really attractive.”

Leech spoke with George Paton multiple times during the hiring process and they were both on the same page of what their top priority is.

“We had the pleasure of talking and sharing our unique bonds of playing college football and starting in the industry really as interns and working our way up,” Leech said. “You can believe we have a shared vision on the importance of football to this organization with the No. 1 goal of being winning.”

As for what that looks like this year, Penner pointed to making the playoffs and winning championships as the team’s goals.

“I don’t think it’s a specific record, I think a key goal would be we want to make the playoffs, love to win a championship,” Denver’s owner & CEO said on Monday. “That always has to be a goal when you come into a season. That’s our goal. That’s our focus.”

Football guy, but not football decision maker

Leech has a rich history of football in his past. Not only did he spend the past seven years with the NFL, but he also played college ball at Princeton.

“My responsibility is to work with George [Paton] and I’ll do that—we have a great relationship already—to support football and business,” Leech said, opening up about his role as president. “These two things can’t be successful without each other. We’ll have great communication, great candid communication.”

However, with the Broncos, he’ll stay out of the football decisions.

“But my focus is outside the lines,” Leech added. “I won’t be picking players or calling plays, I’m focused on the fans and the community, growing our fan base tremendously at Broncos Country and doing what we can to make our players successful on the field and off the field.”

Leech and Paton will not report to one another, instead they’ll both report to Penner individually. Leech will be in charge of the business operation, while Paton will focus on the football side.

“I’m excited to support George and Coach [Nathaniel] Hackett, who I’ve met several times, we met earlier today and hugged three times in the span of five minutes,” Leech said with a smile. “Just two brilliant football minds and really excited to work with them.”

“Football, fans and future is what you’re going to see from me and what I’m going to embed in our staff and this culture,” he added.

Stadium evaluation

Along with leading the business operations of the team, Leech will be in charge of the Stadium Management Company.

When asked about the future of the stadium, Leech initially put his full support behind Empower Field at Mile High Stadium.

“First of all, Empower Field at Mile High Stadium is a world-class facility,” he said. “It not only hosts amazing NFL games, but also concerts and other events. It’s a core part of this community.”

Despite that endorsement, however, Leech then said he will evaluate the future of the stadium.

“There are a number of other things I’ll be looking at as I take over in their organization, obviously the stadium is one of them,” Leech added. “On Day One, I don’t have any proclamations to make, but it’s certainly something I’ll be evaluating.”

New uniforms?

Leech approached the idea of new uniforms in a very similar fashion as he talked about the Broncos stadium. While he didn’t want to make an announcement on Monday about the future of the team’s jerseys, he directly stated he will be evaluating them moving forward.

He tied uniforms in with the thought that successful businesses and teams must have a growth mindset and “zig when others zag.”

“Uniforms is a good example of that, where I think you’ve got to balance history and tradition—three Super Bowls wearing this uniform—but also understanding that tastes evolve, your customer evolves and connecting with fans and representing your brand in the best way is important to do,” Leech said, hinting at a potential change. “Again, no proclamations on Day One, but it’s also one of those things that I’ll be looking at.”

Penner joked that there are plenty of opinions out there about the uniforms, but he has not made up his mind yet.

Championship first impression

One of Leech’s first impressions of the Broncos and Broncos Country came shortly after he began his job with the league office when Denver beat the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game 20-18.

“Coming out to this stadium and this community and feeling the fans, it was incredibly palpable. It was really unique, not like many clubs around this country,” he said. “And it is something that has stayed with me, that experience. Really excited to be part of that now. Broncos Country is just really special.”

Leech added it felt like a college game day environment. Now, he hopes to lead the Broncos to many more championship games.