With the obvious fact that Super Bowl XLV pits two legendary franchises with already illustrious championship game histories, let’s take a moment to note that the Denver Broncos also have a storied Super Bowl history.

While it has not been added to in recent years, I was reflecting the other day on my 34 years with the Broncos and on my years as a season ticket holder preceding employment.

Any fan who has been following the Broncos since that first playoff game in 1977 (and many newer fans likely do not even realize that in the first year the Broncos made the playoffs, they also advanced to the Super Bowl) we have seen it all.

This does not mean we do not care if we see it again-quite the opposite, in fact. But Broncos fans have watched their team win, and lose, the Super Bowl as a favorite, as an underdog, as the home team, and as the road team.

No fan can ever be sure how a game will end up, but at least going into it this year’s Super Bowl is perhaps the all-time classic matchup of hard core, old style, rock’em, sock’em National Football League play.

Two of the most storied franchises in the NFL will hit it off in Dallas—perhaps only the Chicago Bears and New York Giants have the same level of history as these two clubs.

The Steelers have won the most Super Bowls ever, while the Packers have the most overall championships in pro football history.

Both teams play hard, tough, physical football, and are symbolic of what postseason play has come to be.