{"id":1031142,"date":"2026-10-18T20:24:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T20:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1031142\/"},"modified":"2026-10-18T20:24:32","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T20:24:32","slug":"broncos-mike-shanahan-offers-tribute-to-late-gm-john-beake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1031142\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos’ Mike Shanahan offers tribute to late GM John Beake"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Broncos<\/a> coach Mike Shanahan<\/a> offered a tribute Sunday to late general manager John Beake<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Broncos announced Saturday that Beake, a Broncos executive from 1979-2000, including general manager from 1985-98, died at the age of 87. Beake, along with late owner Pat Bowlen, hired Shanahan as Denver\u2019s coach, a position he held from 1995-2008.<\/p>\n

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With Shanahan as coach and Beake as general manager, the Broncos won their first two Super Bowls after the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Shanahan was an assistant coach under Dan Reeves when the Broncos, with Beake as general manager, made Super Bowls in the 1986, 1987 and 1989 seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough he never wanted any credit, John Beake was such a key contributor behind some of the best teams in the history of the franchise,\u201d Shanahan wrote in a text to The Denver Gazette. \u201cThe Broncos don\u2019t have the success they had in the 80s and 90s without the steady hand of John on the personnel side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shanahan had a close relationship with Beake.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer general manager John Beake, who helped guide the Broncos to a pair of world championships and five Super Bowl appearances, has passed away. He was 87 years old. (Courtesy of Denver Broncos)<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn was an extraordinary person, husband, father and a great friend,\u201d Shanahan wrote. \u201cMy thoughts are with (wife) Marcia as well as their sons Chip and Chris, who were coaches with me. I will miss John and extend my deepest sympathy to his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Beake played quarterback at Air Force from 1990-92 and spent some time with the Broncos when Shanahan was head coach. He later was a Denver assistant from 2013-21 and is now safeties coach for the Los Angeles Rams. Chip Beake was a Broncos offensive quality control assistant in 2006.<\/p>\n

In addition to serving as general manager, Beake for the Broncos was director of pro personnel from 1979-80, director of player personnel from 1981-83, assistant general manager in 1984 and vice president of administration from 1999-2000.<\/p>\n

Mims meets Upchurch<\/p>\n

The two best punt returners in Broncos history met last month during Alumni Weekend.<\/a><\/p>\n

Wide receiver Marvin Mims Jr., in his fourth Denver season, holds the NFL record for highest punt-return average at 15.7 yards. Rick Upchurch, who played for Denver from 1975-83 and was inducted into the Ring of Fame in 2014, is tied for fourth in NFL history with eight punt returns for touchdowns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really cool to see him,\u201d Mims said of talking to Upchurch during a weekend that featured the Broncos defeating the Rams 30-26 on Sept. 27. \u201cThat was my first time actually getting to put a face to the name. You always see the Ring of Fame. Just to be able to see him there, talk to him for a good amount of time was great. We talked for maybe 10 minutes. It was really nice to meet him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upchurch, who had a career average of 12.1 yards on 248 returns, has commended Mims for becoming the all-time leader in punt-return average when he reached the necessary 75 career returns in Week 1 at Kansas City to qualify. However, when it comes to being the best punt returner in Broncos history, Upchurch told The Denver Gazette that when Mims gets to 248 career returns, \u201cthen we can start talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see how long it takes me to get there and how long I\u2019ll be playing this game,\u201d Mims, who now has 80 career returns, said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\"DenverDenver Broncos outside linebacker Jonah Elliss (52) pressures Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold during the first half of an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026. (AP Photo\/Geneva Heffernan)<\/p>\n

Elliss, Badie hurt vs. Seattle<\/p>\n

Denver players were off during the weekend following Thursday night\u2019s 17-14 overtime win over Seattle. They will return to Broncos Park on Monday.<\/p>\n

Outside linebacker Jonah Elliss left the game for good with a right lower leg injury suffered in the final minute of regulation. Elliss\u2019 leg was hit when Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold was going down following a hit by linebacker Alex Singleton on a short completion. Elliss, who played at Utah, was seen on crutches and wearing a walking boot at Saturday night\u2019s 27-24 win by the Utes at Colorado. <\/p>\n

Elliss started the first six games in place of Jonathon Cooper, who was on the NFL commissioner exempt list until being removed from it Friday. The Broncos have a roster exemption on Cooper until next Monday. However, a roster move would need to be made by Saturday if he is activated for Sunday\u2019s game at Arizona.<\/p>\n

Third-string running back Tyler Badie was lost Thursday in the first half due to a thumb injury, and it is uncertain how long he could be out. But running back Jonah Coleman, who suffered an ankle injury in Week 2 against Jacksonville, is eligible this week to come off injured reserve after missing the minimum requirement of four games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan offered a tribute Sunday to late general manager John Beake. The Broncos announced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1031143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[232,231,258,2426,7,33925,1729,3901,7471,12565,6,70807,1276],"class_list":["post-1031142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-broncos","tag-broncos","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denverbroncos","tag-football","tag-jonah-coleman","tag-jonah-elliss","tag-jonathon-cooper","tag-marvin-mims-jr","tag-mike-shanahan","tag-nfl","tag-rick-upchurch","tag-tyler-badie"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1031142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1031143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1031142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1031142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1031142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}