Remembering The Barrel Man

Tim McKernan, 69, of Denver, passed away in his sleep yesterday morning due to lung failure.

So long, Barrel Man. There are few in this world who follow their passion with as much zeal as McKernan, aka “The Barrel Man” followed his.

His passion was the Denver Broncos. That alone didn’t make him unique. What did was attending Broncos games wearing just a barrel around his torso, held in place by suspenders, along with a cowboy hat and boots. No matter the weather, Barrel Man was there.

In 13 years working for the Broncos I had many occasions to meet McKernan. But recalling the first such occasion brings a smile and illuminates just what an institution he was among Broncos fans.

Many don’t realize that in true sporting fashion, Barrel Man retired not once, but twice. His first “retirement” came in 1992. At the time I was in my final quarter of college at the University of Washington, and doing some game-day work for the local NBC affiliate, KING-TV. A year after interning in PR for the Seattle Seahawks, my game-day job was to arrange the player guests for KING’s postgame locker-room show, at home and at select road games.

The last of those road games in ’92 was in Denver, at Mile High Stadium, just before Christmas. The host of the postgame show was KING sportscaster and now KUSA Denver sports anchor Drew Soicher. Soicher had learned during that week that the Barrel Man was retiring, and his goal was to have him on the postgame show.

During the first quarter of what was my first trip to Mile High, we kept an eye on him in the East stands across from the press box. At the end of the quarter I set out on foot to speak with him about our idea. It was on this search that I became immediately aware of how beloved he was. Every place I checked I was one stop behind him, but stadium workers were remarkably enthusiastic in detailing for me where he had been and where they expected him to go next.

When I finally caught up with him, the character truly fit the legend. With a big beard and a gruff voice he seemed as though he was chiseled straight from the granite of the Rocky Mountains. Polite, though, he said he would love to do the interview, and that he had family in Tacoma, whom he hoped would be watching.

There were many odd things about that day—beyond the obvious of escorting an unofficial mascot of the opposing team to a TV station’s postgame show. We had to walk him through the tunnel, with a credential, to the entrance to the visitor’s locker room in the northeast corner of old Mile High. I can still recall several fans hollering out “take good care of him in Seattle,” as though we were signing him as a “mascot” free agent.

Several years later I would learn from my long-time boss, Broncos VP of Public Relations Jim Saccomano some other amusing anecdotes from that week. It seems that Barrel Man was allowed a few minutes at the podium before Dan Reeves’ Wednesday press conference, and if that juxtaposition wasn’t unconventional enough, it was made more so by McKernan declaring that he was retiring because he wanted to go out on his “own terms.”

It would have been odd to imagine at the time that for many years I would be in a position to receive countless phone calls from people who were seeking to contact McKernan for Barrel Man-related inquiries. Few knew his name, so it is not surprising they would turn to the Broncos. We often joked in the PR department, “Where else would you look in the phone book—‘Man, Barrel’?”

As I picture the snapshots in my head of Barrel Man moments, I recall seeing him standing in full Barrel regalia on the tarmac in San Diego in an extended “Mile High Salute” as our charter plane taxied toward the gate upon arrival for Super Bowl XXXII. Yes, on the tarmac. He was a mechanic for United Airlines in his non-Barrel-wearing life.

Over the years there have been short-lived “Barrel Women” and even a “Barrel Jr.” or “Barrel Intern” by his side at games. But there will only be one Barrel Man, Tim McKernan.

NFL fans around the country, and especially Broncos fans, have plenty of memories of their own. Even if they never knew his name, they knew he was a Mile High institution. There are other super-fan zealots who may be just as zany and dedicated to their teams. But you have to hand it to the Barrel Man—he was unique.

Thanks for your devotion and your passion, Tim. May you rest in peace.

Paul Kirk/ProLink Sports
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