My Favorite Super Bowl Memory

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There was a time when being a Denver Broncos fan led to nothing but heartache.  I grew up on this team. They have been in my blood as long as I can remember, but growing up watching them was hard.  There was Super Bowl XXI, when Denver faced off against the Giants, only to lose 39-20.  But, thankfully the Broncos returned to the big show next year, and it looked like this was our year.  They were up 10-0 on the Redskins in Super Bowl XXII early on, but that was as far as they got...losing 42-10.  

It only got worse from there, two years later, the 49ers utterly dismantled the Broncos, beating them 55-10 in Super Bowl XXIV and well...that was the darkest hour as a Bronco fan.  There was quite a while there where I wasn't sure this team would ever hoist the Lombardi Trophy.  

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That skepticism continued in 1997-1998.  The Broncos were in new uniforms, suddenly good again and back in the big game.  But while I remember unfettered excitement flowing through my veins for the these games before, my family and I were nervous and cautiously optimistic this time around.  Super Bowl XXXII was looking to be a tough game, it was the Super Bowl XXI Champion Green Bay Packers after all, and well...our track record wasn't so good.  

But wow, this was and still is to me at least, one of the finest Super Bowls of all time.  A back and forth, knock down drag it out brawl ensued on every play and it had  on the edge of our seat.  In fact, I remember my father and I pacing in front of the television in those final two minutes, wondering if Favre would take this game into overtime or not.  That is until that final play when the ball sailed from his hands and eventually landed in the grass and there it was...The Denver Broncos were Super Bowl XXXII Champions.  There was shouting in our home, shouting in the streets all over the fact that the long nightmare was over, we were elite, we were champions.  It is a memory I will never forget and certainly my fondest memory from the many Super Bowl games I have watched in my life and it looks like Peyton Manning is ready to add some new ones to the history books when the Denver Broncos take the field for Super Bowl XLVIII.  

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