A Memoir: Kickoff to Disaster
By: Wayne
Foreword: When I started this page, I had a specific story in mind that I knew would need to be on here. I first wrote it in 2014 after Super Bowl 48 and edited it to submit for college applications in 2017. I’m not one to brag, but my high school English teacher called this one of his favorite memoirs he’s ever read. This coming from a guy who made fun of me and my friends for talking about “foosball” all the time. Keep being you, Epstein. Anyways, here’s the story of Super Bowl 48 from the perspective of a Broncos fan.
It was an hour before kickoff on what should have been the best day of the entire year. It was a day completely devoted to football that I got more excited for than my birthday, Halloween, or New Year’s eve. It was Super Bowl Sunday, but it was no ordinary Super Bowl Sunday. My favorite team, the Denver Broncos, would face off against the Seattle Seahawks in what promised to be an intense matchup between the best offense in the league and the best defense in the league. I had worn Broncos gear for the whole week leading up to the game and I had followed every single sports superstition I could think of. I hadn’t shaved since the Broncos’ playoff run had begun, I had worn the same Peyton Manning jersey for every game and hadn’t washed it, and I ate the same pizza from the same restaurant during every Broncos playoff game. I was determined to make the Broncos win any way that I could, and in my mind, there was no way that they could lose. Everybody I knew said I wasn’t a genuine fan, that I was a bandwagon fan. I had started my Broncos fandom the year Peyton Manning, the best quarterback ever and a future Hall of Famer joined the team. People said I only liked Manning and not the actual team. I knew that if the Broncos won it would give them even more fuel to call me a bandwagon fan. I didn’t care. My dad was on his way to pick up the food from that same pizza place, my friends were on their way over, and I was alone on the couch, wearing my Peyton Manning jersey, stroking my growing facial hair while I watched Rich Eisen and the NFL game day crew discuss what it would take for a Denver win. Everything was set up to make this one of the best days of my entire life. What followed was far from it.
By the time the first quarter began all my friends were on the couch with me. The food had arrived, and everybody was ready for the big game to begin. My dad had ordered a few extra-large pizzas, buffalo wild wings, garlic knots, and salad. The food was delicious, and it was the perfect thing to eat while watching a Broncos Super Bowl win. The Broncos’ offense marched onto the field. They were the best in the league and broke several records making them a candidate to be the best of all time. Playmakers like elite receivers Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, explosive running back Knowshon Moreno, and massive target, tight end Julius Thomas all led by the best quarterback of all time, Peyton Manning. “This may be the best offense in the history of the NFL that we are watching here today,” said Troy Aikman, legendary Cowboys quarterback and a part of one of the best offenses of all-time himself, with fellow Hall of Famers running back Emmitt Smith and receiver Michael Irvin. I thought the Broncos would embarrass the best defense of the last few seasons and the secondary nicknamed the Legion of Boom.
Instead, the game went the wrong way for the Broncos from the very first play. I watched Peyton Manning call an audible, and get a high snap from center Manny Ramirez before he was ready for it. The ball flew by him, and into the Bronco’s end zone. Knowshon Moreno fell on the ball and accepted the 2 point safety for the Seahawks. My friends laughed at the ridiculousness of the play. It was the fastest score ever in the Super Bowl, but a 2 point deficit was no big deal. My stomach tied in knots, and I was desperately hoping that this was just a rough start and my team would overcome it. However, the Broncos offense could not get anything going, leading to a 22-nothing lead at halftime for Seattle.
I sat on the couch stunned. As the halftime show began, I couldn’t help but wonder if the Broncos’ season was already over. After all, they were being killed in the Super Bowl and it seemed like there was no way to re-establish the team’s morale. The first half was pretty boring, so there weren’t many Broncos’ highlights during the halftime show. “The Broncos still have a chance to win this game,” Troy Aikman declared, “but it’s not going to be easy, and the team will have to turn it around fast.” I wasn’t sure that I agreed with him. The Seahawks were dominant on both sides of the ball, and my friends were starting to get tired of the game. As Bruno Mars began to play the halftime show, my friends began to leave. “Do you want to go play football outside?” my friend asked. “I can’t leave now,” I told him. “I have to keep watching. But you guys can go if you want.” I couldn’t believe that the game had been so boring that my friends preferred to go outside and play. As time went by in the second half, more and more people went outside to play. The kickoff to start the second half went for a Percy Harvin touchdown for Seattle. Another friend left. Peyton Manning interception. Another friend left. Russell Wilson touchdown pass put Seattle up 36–0. Another friend left, and I was left alone, watching the end of a game that was over before it started.
Finally, the Broncos got on the board with a touchdown and a two-point conversion. It was the first Broncos touchdown that I had watched and not jumped out of my seat to celebrate. The score meant nothing, and it felt weird to watch. It was a great touchdown to Demaryius Thomas for six, and a beautiful strike to Wes Welker for the additional two points. A classic Peyton Manning play, but for the first time that season, it really meant nothing. “A great touchdown, but it’s just too little too late,” Troy Aikman expressed. Aikman, along with everybody else watching the game, was exhausted from seeing the commanding blowout that should have been a great contest. The Seahawks would score one more time, a meaningless Doug Baldwin touchdown. The game had really not been competitive at any point, and as the minutes ticked by, it felt more and more surreal, sitting there by myself watching my team be dominated in a game I was convinced they would win. After the game was over, I sat on the couch speechless for what felt like an eternity. My friends all left quietly, not wanting to bother me in my depressed state. “Bye, Jacob,” they carefully said. I couldn’t bring myself to respond. After a few minutes of staring at the blank TV screen, I got up to help my parents clean up. Even as I was cleaning up greasy napkins, empty soda cans, and dirty plates I felt like I was outside of my body. It seemed like it was just a nightmare the night before the Broncos’ victory, and that I would soon wake up to have the great Super Bowl Sunday that I was looking forward to. Unfortunately, it was all too real. After I finished cleaning up, I just needed to process what happened. On the way to my room, I shaved and threw my jersey in the washing machine. I sat in the dark for the rest of the night in my room until I finally fell asleep.
The next morning I woke up with a terrible headache. I dragged myself out of bed, still unable to grasp what had happened the night before. I gathered all of the Broncos gear I could find. I had my Broncos beanie, hat, jersey, shirts, and pajamas, and I put on everything that I could. If I was going to be made fun of by every person I passed, I was going to do it while supporting the team that I really loved. Each person I walked by at school had a different comment for me about the game, all of them were negative. “Peyton Manning is the worst playoff quarterback ever.” “The Broncos got KILLED! I was laughing so hard.” “Your team sucks, I would be way too embarrassed to wear that.” People took a no-holds-barred approach to call me out for the game, and my Broncos gear was almost an invitation for insults. Towards the end of the day, I was sitting in the Lecture Hall in an assembly at school. I wasn’t paying attention to anything the speaker had said, still trying to digest the game and understand how my team was dominated. The speaker noticed me with my Broncos clothes and called me out in front of the entire high school. “Nice game yesterday,” he sneered. Everybody looked at me and laughed. I didn’t care, and it was on that day that I realized that people didn’t see me as a bandwagon fan anymore. I was supporting my team in its darkest hour, the worst day any football fan can have. While this will be one of my worst memories in my entire life, it solidified my identity as a Broncos fan and proved my stubbornness in not giving up on my team, even after they were completely blown out and embarrassed in the biggest game in football with everyone in the world watching.
Afterword: I know you were probably expecting this to turn into a redemption story including me watching the Broncos win Super Bowl 50. That was one of the best days of my life, and that story will need to be written too in the future. Stay tuned.
