I was just thinking about how I felt about the Broncos chances going into each Super Bowl that they played in. I'm curious to know how everybody else felt. Mine are below.
Super Bowl 12- I was born in 1976, and I hadn't become a Broncos fan yet.
Super Bowl 21- I still wasn't a fan.
Super Bowl 22- I became a fan that season, when I was 11 years old. My father had season tickets to the Raiders, and he took me to a game. I just wasn't feeling the whole Raiders thing, so I told my pops that I was rooting for that other team, which happened to be the Broncos. The Broncos won, and it was the greatest thing to happen to me as a sports fan! I got a Broncos starter jacket a couple weeks later (the blue one with the logo on the left chest and the two orange stripes on the sleeve), and I wore that jacket damn near everyday until I grew out of it. It's still hanging in my closet.
Well heading into the Super Bowl I was super excited. I mean, I had only been a fan for like two months and it was already paying off with a trip to the Super Bowl! That decision at the LA Coliseum was looking like a great one. I remember hearing about how the Broncos were the favorites, so I couldn't wait for the game. Then the game started and Elway threw a bomb on the first offensive play of the game. Touchdown! It was awesome. Then they go up by 10 points. Yeah, this is the best thing ever! Yeah…then the second quarter. WFT?!?! It was going so great, and it all came crashing down. Yeah, that sucked.
Super Bowl 24- Well, I'm sure that I'm not the only one who convinced myself that the Broncos would win that game. I mean, #1 defense in the league, and Bobby Humphrey was the running back that Elway always needed. The Broncos had a great season. They finished 11-5, but they were 10-2 and wrapped up the #1 seed really early, so they just took their foot off the gas.
I was telling myself that they could beat the 49ers, mainly because I'm a fan, but I really knew that it wasn't going to happen. I mean, that 49ers team was loaded. It was no shock that they ran the Broncos out of the building.
Super Bowl 32- This was an interesting one. I felt confident and scared at the same time. I wasn't confident just because I'm a Broncos fan, I really believed that the Broncos could win that game. They had a loaded team. But with the AFC losing 13 in a row, the Broncos hitting that late season slump which allowed the Chiefs to win the division, and with only one wild card team ever winning the Super Bowl, nobody gave them a chance. But after watching that team for two years, it was clear that they were a real power. But I was kind of scared because another Super Bowl loss would have mean the 5th one, and Elway would have been tainted again.
Then the Packers marched down the field on the opening drive. It was like dammit, here we go again. But the Broncos answered, and scored 17 points in a row. We were winning! It felt real. And then TD just killed the Packers in the 2nd half. It was just awesome! Best feeling ever! (Only sports feeling that has topped that was my son single handedly beating a rival on the final drive of the game this past high school football season. Like, 4th and 10 from their own 20 with 30 seconds to play and the QB was wildly inaccurate, my son catches a 40-yard bomb to save the drive, then three plays later he catches the game winner in the back of the end zone. Yeah, it was nuts)
Super Bowl 33- That was also interesting, because it was kind of an annoying two weeks. I pretty much knew that game was in the bag. But it was annoying to hear the Falcon fans convince themselves that their team would just stop TD, and that Jamal Anderson would run all over the Broncos. Of course neither came close to happen, and we haven't heard anything about any dirty birds since. It was also annoying to hear people say how lucky the Broncos were that the Vikings didn't make it. That was some BS. The Broncos were a loaded team. The Vikings were a team that caught people's attention because of their offense, but they certainly weren't loaded team. The Broncos flirted with an undefeated season. The Falcons shut down the Vikings offense for the final three quarters and overtime of the NFC Championship game, so how where they going to contend with the Broncos?
Super Bowl 48- I feel really good about this game, but it won't be an upset either way. I really believe that the Broncos are the better team, but not by much. And since it is only one game and not a series, anything can happen. It is kind of a different feeling though, because those Super Bowl runs in the late 90s, the Broncos had never done anything like that. That was really special. It's hard to come close to that. This one is more about building a legacy. Not just for Manning, but for the organization. Winning a third Super Bowl puts them in a higher class. If they get a win, and hopefully one more with Manning, they would be on that top tier of NFL franchises. The Steelers, 49ers, Cowboys, Giants, and Packers are the only teams with four or more Super Bowl wins. It's time to climb that ladder!
Super Bowl 12- I was born in 1976, and I hadn't become a Broncos fan yet.

Super Bowl 21- I still wasn't a fan.
Super Bowl 22- I became a fan that season, when I was 11 years old. My father had season tickets to the Raiders, and he took me to a game. I just wasn't feeling the whole Raiders thing, so I told my pops that I was rooting for that other team, which happened to be the Broncos. The Broncos won, and it was the greatest thing to happen to me as a sports fan! I got a Broncos starter jacket a couple weeks later (the blue one with the logo on the left chest and the two orange stripes on the sleeve), and I wore that jacket damn near everyday until I grew out of it. It's still hanging in my closet.
Well heading into the Super Bowl I was super excited. I mean, I had only been a fan for like two months and it was already paying off with a trip to the Super Bowl! That decision at the LA Coliseum was looking like a great one. I remember hearing about how the Broncos were the favorites, so I couldn't wait for the game. Then the game started and Elway threw a bomb on the first offensive play of the game. Touchdown! It was awesome. Then they go up by 10 points. Yeah, this is the best thing ever! Yeah…then the second quarter. WFT?!?! It was going so great, and it all came crashing down. Yeah, that sucked.
Super Bowl 24- Well, I'm sure that I'm not the only one who convinced myself that the Broncos would win that game. I mean, #1 defense in the league, and Bobby Humphrey was the running back that Elway always needed. The Broncos had a great season. They finished 11-5, but they were 10-2 and wrapped up the #1 seed really early, so they just took their foot off the gas.
I was telling myself that they could beat the 49ers, mainly because I'm a fan, but I really knew that it wasn't going to happen. I mean, that 49ers team was loaded. It was no shock that they ran the Broncos out of the building.
Super Bowl 32- This was an interesting one. I felt confident and scared at the same time. I wasn't confident just because I'm a Broncos fan, I really believed that the Broncos could win that game. They had a loaded team. But with the AFC losing 13 in a row, the Broncos hitting that late season slump which allowed the Chiefs to win the division, and with only one wild card team ever winning the Super Bowl, nobody gave them a chance. But after watching that team for two years, it was clear that they were a real power. But I was kind of scared because another Super Bowl loss would have mean the 5th one, and Elway would have been tainted again.
Then the Packers marched down the field on the opening drive. It was like dammit, here we go again. But the Broncos answered, and scored 17 points in a row. We were winning! It felt real. And then TD just killed the Packers in the 2nd half. It was just awesome! Best feeling ever! (Only sports feeling that has topped that was my son single handedly beating a rival on the final drive of the game this past high school football season. Like, 4th and 10 from their own 20 with 30 seconds to play and the QB was wildly inaccurate, my son catches a 40-yard bomb to save the drive, then three plays later he catches the game winner in the back of the end zone. Yeah, it was nuts)
Super Bowl 33- That was also interesting, because it was kind of an annoying two weeks. I pretty much knew that game was in the bag. But it was annoying to hear the Falcon fans convince themselves that their team would just stop TD, and that Jamal Anderson would run all over the Broncos. Of course neither came close to happen, and we haven't heard anything about any dirty birds since. It was also annoying to hear people say how lucky the Broncos were that the Vikings didn't make it. That was some BS. The Broncos were a loaded team. The Vikings were a team that caught people's attention because of their offense, but they certainly weren't loaded team. The Broncos flirted with an undefeated season. The Falcons shut down the Vikings offense for the final three quarters and overtime of the NFC Championship game, so how where they going to contend with the Broncos?
Super Bowl 48- I feel really good about this game, but it won't be an upset either way. I really believe that the Broncos are the better team, but not by much. And since it is only one game and not a series, anything can happen. It is kind of a different feeling though, because those Super Bowl runs in the late 90s, the Broncos had never done anything like that. That was really special. It's hard to come close to that. This one is more about building a legacy. Not just for Manning, but for the organization. Winning a third Super Bowl puts them in a higher class. If they get a win, and hopefully one more with Manning, they would be on that top tier of NFL franchises. The Steelers, 49ers, Cowboys, Giants, and Packers are the only teams with four or more Super Bowl wins. It's time to climb that ladder!
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