Broncos Blew Chance to Make Inroads in Arkansas

Despite NFL ownership with deep ties to Razorbacks, Denver makes sure Hog fans know their place

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – As Rivals reporter Mason Choate pointed out earlier today, the Denver Broncos took a rather serious shot at the Arkansas Razorback program and appears to have lost a large number of potential Razorback fans as proxy Denver Broncos fans in the process.

The team's marketing and social media department went out of its way to downplay the Arkansas ties to, instead, sell its fans on the idea that this was really an Alabama draft pick. Nevermind that 76% of his career production came in his one season as a Razorback versus two years of riding the pine or hanging out on the the injured list down in Tuscaloosa. 

✅ Unanimous All-American
✅ Butkus Award finalist

Got a good one in @Drew_16Sanders. 💪

📊 » https://t.co/woturUdcuK pic.twitter.com/CJV51GjtVl

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) April 30, 2023

However, it's not so much a slap in the face that an NFL organization wants to pretend it drafted a major player from the Crimson Tide that is troublesome. What is disturbing is that it's an NFL franchise owned by Rob Walton, heir to the Wal-Mart empire and a graduate of the University of Arkansas. His family name is literally plastered all over Northwest Arkansas, including campus facilities.

This is a horrible look for both Walton and the organization. Had Jerry Jones, who has managed to profit heavily off Razorback loyalty over the decades, done this through the Dallas Cowboys' media wing, buildings would have been burned and that contract for games down in Arlington would have immediately been canceled. It wouldn't have been surprising if a resolution declaring Jones no longer welcome in the state of Arkansas were put forth on the state legislative floor.

The people of Alabama must be either confused or getting one heck of a laugh out of this. It gives the impression that even their cast-offs would prefer to be associated with Nick Saban and his Alabama football program than the one that actually turned them into college football stars. 

As for Walton, while it's a black eye for his opening foray into NFL ownership, he's technically not the part of the ownership group pulling the strings. While he's a big part of the check book, Greg Penner is the member of ownership who functions as the team's CEO and general overseer of the organization's day-to-day operations.

Penner, the son of California parents who made their money helping Christians improve their late night marital relations, started as a regular Wal-Mart employee before eventually working his way up to chief financial officer of the company's operations in Japan. He's a graduate of Georgetown and Stanford. No ties to Arkansas at all.

If he had any say in how Sanders was presented to the Broncos fan base, then it was either a branding decision or a rib at Walton. Either would seemed far-fetched for a wealthy man of such title. However, the search engine information for his photo gallery encourages Broncos fans to "flip through photos of Drew Sanders' path from Alabama to Oklahoma to the Broncos." As big of a reach as it may be, it further lends credence to the idea that this could have been done to get under Walton's skin as the the first son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton spent much of his life in Oklahoma where he was born and later had a law firm.

For whatever reason the Broncos decided to look down upon the Arkansas program, it's not landed well in the Natural State. A chance to grow their NFL brand with double ties to Arkansas is now lost, and knowing Razorback fans, it will take a long time to rebuild, if ever. 

As a result, it looks like the Jones family and their Star Wars nicknamed art museum that also hosts football games over in Arlington will continue to be the primary beneficiary of Arkansas fans for the foreseeable future.

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