I can explain

It's not that I don't like the Seahawks.

They're impressive these days, what with Wilson, Lynch and Sherman; the electric-green-on-Navy uniforms and the transformative power of the 12th Man. Having been brought up on Seattle football in the days of Largent and Craig, I'm proud of my home team and how far they've come over the decades. I'm glad they've cemented their legitimacy as a top-notch team with a second trip to the Super Bowl this year. They certainly deserve it.

But I won't be wearing blue and green on Sunday. I'll be pulling for the other team.

You see, 17 years ago I met a rabid -- not barrel-wearing, naked-chest-painted-orange-in-sub-freezing-temperatures rabid, mind you -- but a no-less committed, emotionally-attached, whole hog Broncos fan. And we started dating.

If there was to be a relationship with him, there would be no Seahawks-rooting. Hawks and horses never have gotten along. They still don't.

So, with Seattle loosing games (lots of them) and Denver winning Super Bowls at the time, it was an easy time to switch NFL allegiances. I saw a future in my relationship with this Broncos fan, and football wasn't a huge priority for me. So I switched teams, we got married and over the years that followed, I learned to love the game of football and the Denver Broncos.

The next decade-and-a-half, I sat with Nick on the couch each Sunday, bidding farewell to Elway, Davis and Sharpe and getting behind a slew of sub-par quarterbacks. There were the post-Shanahan, pre-Fox years and the polarizing effects of Tebow. I learned how to spot a defensive penalty and predict an onside kick attempt. Any Denver game we could watch while stationed on the east coast -- and these were few -- was like hitting the jackpot.

Those were the lean years. Then Elway came back and Manning arrived. The winds shifted and we could smell a championship in our near future. Suddenly, there was hope and Internet-streaming.

Nick and I haven't missed more than two or three games since. And somewhere in these past two seasons, I've become a rabid Denver fan, too -- jersey-donning, screaming-at-the-TV, orange-Gatorade-swilling rabid!

And while I've been away, the Seahawks have been getting good, too. On Sunday the Broncos meet them in the Super Bowl. Who would have predicted this 17 years ago?

I realize there can be no "second favorite team" in NFL fandom. You like who you like and that's it. And make no mistake, I want the Broncos to kick some @$% on Sunday. But when the final seconds of the fourth quarter tick down, I'm happy to know the Lombardi trophy will be heading westward, over the Rockies. And whichever team takes it, will bring a small piece of my football history along with it. And that may be the best NFL moment I'll ever live to see.