ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- For the first time in four decades, the person with final say on football decisions for the Denver Broncos did not have the team's name anywhere on his football résumé when he arrived.
When George Paton was formally introduced Tuesday as the newly-minted general manager of the Broncos -- complete with the requisite orange tie -- he immediately became the proverbial fresh set of eyes to fix a five-year playoff drought, a decided lack of touchdowns on offense and a spinning turnstile at quarterback.
"The fact that he's had a lot of opportunities to go other places -- I think you look at a man like that, and you say, 'You know what, he's not going to jump at any job, he wants to find the right job,'" president of football operations John Elway said.