I've never gotten the general ill will towards Ellis, other than we all need someone to blame when things go wrong. It seems to me to be pretty clear that Ellis and the other trustees are carrying out Pat's wishes, which seem to pretty clearly be getting Brittany ready to be the controlling owner, and only if that failed, move on to plan B.
Also, I think people should step back and look at Ellis a little more objectively. For instance, look at the pretty much total autonomy Ellis has given Elway on football operations. You don't see Ellis interjecting himself left and right, but instead, he's giving the GM and head of football operations control to run the football side of things, while Ellis focuses on the business side and works with the other trustees on fulfilling Pat's wishes.
If this was all power and ego for Ellis, we would be seeing his face and comments as much or more than Elway's.
Also, for those fans that had respect for Pat, you should think about the fact that Ellis was both a good friend and his right hand man for many years. After he started with the Broncos, Pat got him setup in the NFL league office to get experience, and then brought him back to the broncos to be his right hand man, and then entrusted the future of his club and his children's financial security, with Ellis and two other trustees.
The Broncos went to two SBs and won one under Joe Ellis.
I appreciate what Ellis has done for the Broncos and how he's working to fulfill Pat's hope of having Brittany take over the club.
Yeah i don think he is the evil guy I originally thought lol