Joliet East grad Nancy Svoboda adds local touch to Denver Broncos’ football organization

Nancy Svoboda grew up a sports fan.

Makes sense. Her dad, Don Nichols, coached basketball and golf at Joliet East before becoming athletic director for the Kingsmen and then at Joliet West.

She was a cheerleader, ran track and played softball.

“When I was young, with my dad coaching, I got dragged to all the basketball games, so I kind of moved away from basketball myself,” she said.

Football was not in the picture, although she always has been a fan.

She graduated from Joliet East in 1981 and from Illinois State in 1986 with a degree in business administration. She was engaged, and her future husband informed her that he was moving to Denver.

“I graduated in May of ’86 and was married in October that year,” she recalled. “Within a month, we were getting ready to move to Colorado. I had never been to Colorado before meeting my husband. He said he was moving there, and I went to see it and fell in love with it.”

Fast forward about three decades, and there’s Nancy Svoboda as the highest-ranking female in the Denver Broncos organization. She is the senior vice president of human resources, the fourth name of the select group of four on the Broncos’ executive staff. The list is headed by none other than Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway, the executive vice president of football operations and general manager.

Svoboda was home last week for a Father’s Day visit. She saw her dad in the hospital as he was in for what became gall bladder surgery. “I caught an earlier flight and walked into his room and surprised him,” she said.

She worked in retailing, in day care and at a marketing company in the Denver area. “Having a business background helped me in my HR career,” said. “The business background made it easier.”

RIGHT DECISION

When the Broncos approached Svoboda in 2013 about filling their HR position, she was torn. She very much enjoyed the marketing company.

“It was a very emotional time,” she said. “It was a difficult decision. My boss at my previous job is a big Broncos fan, so he understood. It definitely has been a good move to go to the Broncos.

“When I got into the NFL, I learned there are 32 clubs operating as individual businesses. Pat Bowlen, our owner, makes it like family. His organization is built on integrity and doing it the right way.”

The Broncos, of course, have been a successful franchise through the years. From the standpoint of working for a winner, however, Svoboda’s timing was impeccable.

“We went the Super Bowl that first year and lost big to Seattle,” she said. “But we won last year in Super Bowl 50 (over Carolina). Two of the three years we’ve been in Super Bowls, and we won three divisional titles and two AFC championships.”

There was something else special about last season – Denver quarterback Peyton Manning’s last hurrah in the NFL.

Being so close to all of that may trump Svoboda’s most cherished personal sports memories, but they are keepers all the same.

“At Washington Junior High, we won state in sixth grade,” she recalled. “I was on the 440-yard relay that has a record that never will be broken. We set the record, and after that they retired the event. They went to meters.

“I also did the 440-yard run at state but didn’t place.”

Another lasting memory came in her dad’s realm, the golf course.

“Two or three years ago, I went to Heritage Bluffs with my dad and finally beat him,” she said. “It was a proud moment for me.”

THE RING

Svoboda said her job is “to oversee the HR department of the front office staff and the stadium. There are over 1,000 people who work in the stadium on game day.”

Besides those duties, she enjoyed serving on the committee that designed the Broncos’ Super Bowl 50 rings.

“It was interesting and fun to watch Peyton’s (Manning’s) last year in the NFL, as well as the smile on his face when he opened the box and saw his ring,” Svoboda said.

She said she interacts with Elway “when John has HR-related questions. Whenever anything involves the coaches or players, what is happening on the field, he handles that. When you do talk with him, he really listens. He appreciates your point of view.”

Gary Kubiak is Denver’s head coach. He replaced current Bears coach John Fox. While Svoboda was home, she watched Fox on sportscasts.

“It seems funny to see coach Fox on Chicago television stations,” she said. “He was at Denver my first two years. I got to know the HR person of the Bears with their transition to Fox.”

She said she never had been to Soldier Field before attending the Broncos-Bears game there Nov. 22.

“It was a frigid day,” she said. “I said, ‘Can’t they brush off the seats?’ Well, they couldn’t. That was snow and ice frozen on the seats. It was frozen because of the moisture from the lake.”

The two teams will meet again at Soldier Field on Aug. 11 to kick off the 2016 exhibition schedule.

Meanwhile, the Broncos’ home, Mile High Stadium, turns up the volume.

“It is extremely loud. It’s a great place,” Svoboda said. “My younger brother, Rich, came out for a game against Pittsburgh. He was in the lower bowl and did not sit the entire game. He was really impressed. He went to the Super Bowl with us as well.”

In her HR position, Svoboda gets to know the players and everyone in the organization.

“[Former Plainfield North all-state running back] Kapri Bibbs is on the practice squad, trying to get a spot on the roster,” Svoboda said. “Michael Schofield [starting offensive tackle and a Sandburg graduate] is from the Joliet area, too.”

Ditto Svoboda. A local woman in the front office of an NFL organization indeed is a rarity.