Ted Sundquist knew when he enrolled at the Air Force Academy in 1980 that he was entering a special place for learning.
Air Force always is ranked high in academics, and Sundquist didn’t waste the opportunity. He was an eager student.
On the football field, he learned that through teamwork anything is possible. Excellent work in the classroom led Sundquist to an active duty assignment of intelligence officer in West Berlin at a time when the historic Berlin Wall, an infamous symbol of the Cold War, divided the city.
With competitive spirit and value of teamwork from his football days, Sundquist and some Air Force teammates made an attempt to make the U.S. Olympic team in the bobsled for the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary. Their bid ended in a crash in a late qualifying round.
Fourteen years later, Sundquist became the general manager of the Broncos. The pedigree was there. He had cut his pro football teeth in the Broncos’ scouting department and was moved up.
“Pat Bowlen promoted me to general manager in 2002,” Sundquist said. “We were 58-38 during my term as general manager. We went to the playoffs three times, and it should have been four times.”
The reference to a fourth playoff trip was a subtle way of pointing out that by 2007, Sundquist and Broncos coach Mike Shanahan weren’t seeing eye to eye.
“A lot of things were going on that I didn’t think were in the best interests of the team,” Sundquist said. “We stopped being the franchise we had been. I guess all good things come to an end.”
Sundquist doesn’t go into details, but that was the season Shanahan benched quarterback Jake Plummer in favor of Jay Cutler. The Broncos were 7-4 with Plummer, but were 2-3 with Cutler in the last five games and missed the postseason by one game.
“Pat Bowlen told me it had nothing to do with my job performance,” Sundquist said of his dismissal. “He said that Mike and I weren’t communicating, and Mike was in charge.”
Sundquist remembered walking out of the Broncos’ offices that had been his employment home for 16 years in need of a pep talk. He went home to Houston and visited his old high school football field. His thoughts went back to his days at Air Force and how athletic director John Clune and coach Ken Hatfield made some bold decisions that — along with some eager players — turned a program around.
Air Force joined the Western Athletic Conference, Hatfield brought the wishbone offense back from the dead and Sundquist led the charge.
“The fullback is kind of the sacrificial lamb,” Sundquist said. “You get hit whether you have the ball or not.”
Sundquist called what happened during his time at Air Force as the “launching pad” for the program.
During his junior season in 1982, the Falcons beat Notre Dame 30-17 and BYU 39-38. It marked the only time Air Force has beaten both of its most troublesome opponents in the same season. The Falcons won their first Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy by beating Army and Navy, defeated Vanderbilt 36-28 in the Hall of Fame Bowl and finished 8-5. It was their first winning record since 1973. That began a run of nine winning seasons in 10 years. There have been 22 winning seasons from 1982 through last season.
His mental refresher course in Air Force football rekindled his competitive genes. He remains active in pursuing another front-office job in the NFL.
While he was walking at his high school football field, another thought came to mind. He wonders if it might be his most significant memory.
He remembered being in Berlin, June 12, 1987, when President Ronald Reagan visited the city. He was near the stage when Reagan delivered his famous command, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
Sundquist bio
Born: May 1, 1962, in Houston
High school: Spring Woods High School, Houston
College: Air Force Academy
Hobbies: Hiking, snowshoeing
Future: Getting back in the NFL and taking a team to a Super Bowl.
