ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos continue to move towards becoming one of the NFL’s most diverse franchises as they announced Friday the hiring of Tim Aragon as their new general counsel.
Aragon succeeds Rich Slivka, who retired after serving as the Broncos’ general counsel the past 22 years.
The Broncos held a retirement celebration last week for Slivka, outgoing CEO and president Joe Ellis and executive assistant Veronica Ibarra, who worked primarily with the Bowlen family for more than two decades.
Aragon was previously managing partner of Hogan Lovells law firm in downtown Denver. He has been a corporate lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions. He serves on the board of directors for the Colorado Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He grew up in the Athmar neighborhood of southwest Denver and graduated from Mullen High School. He went on to earn his A.B. from Harvard University cum laude in 1997 before receiving a J.D. from New York University’s School of Law in 2001.
"A highly respected attorney with deep sports experience, Tim is a Denver native and lifelong Broncos fan who is a distinguished leader in this community," Broncos owner and CEO Greg Penner said in a statement. "His strategic counsel, depth of knowledge and business acumen will be a great asset to our organization."
Slivka’s name was familiar to those who followed the litigation sagas involving the Pat Bowlen Trust. Bowlen was the Broncos’ owner from 1984 until he was declared incapacitated by Alzheimer’s in December 2013. Slivka, Ellis and attorney Mary Kelly were the three trustees of the Bowlen estate who were sued the previous three years first by Bowlen’s brother Bill, then by Bowlen’s two oldest daughters Amie and Beth, then by the estate of previous Broncos’ owner Edgar Kaiser Jr. The trustees prevailed in all three civil cases, either by case dismissal or favorable ruling.
Slivka had started counseling Bowlen in 1987 regarding a bank matter with the government. Thanks to Slivka’s guidance, Bowlen reached a favorable settlement. By the late 1990s, Slivka’s law firm was representing the Broncos on nearly all financial, business and tax matters. In 2000, he became the team’s general counsel.
The new Broncos ownership group is two-thirds women or Black. New CEO Greg Penner just hired minorities for two of his top executive positions in Damani Leech as team president and Aragon as general counsel.
Then there’s the team's coaching staff. Last year, the Vic Fangio-led staff had just two minorities among their top 14 positions – running backs coach Curtis Modkins and defensive backs coach Christian Parker.
This year, Nathaniel Hackett’s staff has minorities at six of top 14 positions, including coordinators Ejiro Evero (defense) and Dwayne Stukes (special teams), plus position coaches Jake Moreland (tight ends), Tyrone Wheatley (running backs), Marcus Dixon (defensive line) and Parker.
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