Top 10 of the Last 10 (No.2):This One’s for John

Its been 10 years to this day. I honestly can't believe it. 10 years ago today I watched my first football game. I remember it like it was yesterday. I didn't really know much about the game going into it. I believe I first heard about the match-up two days earlier from my friend Karley, who was a die hard Packers fan. I had an interest in the game but didn't know where and when to watch it(these days you could ask me about Super Bowl XLVIII(49) and I could tell you when it starts and what channel its on).

It was 5:50 that day that my dad left to watch the game at a party(he does this every year except for Super Bowl XXXIII)and so me, my mom, and my sister(who was 2 years old at the time) went into the living room to watch the game. My mom and my sister cheered for the Packers while I sided with the Broncos(mainly because I wanted to be different than them and I thought Denver had cooler jerseys). The story-lines going into the game included Elway's 4th Super Bowl appearance. In the 1980's, John Elway appeared in 3 Super Bowls and loss all three(39-20 to the Giants, 42-10 to the Redskins, and 55-10 against the 49ers). All three times, Denver was 1-dimensional and Elway had no real help.

In 1995, Mike Shanahan was hired as Head Coach of the Broncos. In the 6th round of the 1995 NFL Draft, Shanahan selected Terrell Davis, a lowly running back from Georgia. To fix o-line issues, Shanahan brought in Mark Schlereth at guard. To give Elway more weapons, Rod Smith was signed after not being drafted. On defense Shanahan signed Bill Romanowski, the star linebacker who tortured Elway in Super Bowl XXIV with the 49ers.

In 1996, Denver made the playoffs as a the top seed. However, they were upset by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional playoffs. Meanwhile that day, the Green Bay Packers knocked off the San Francisco 49ers to qualify for the NFC Title game. In the game, Green Bay demolished Carolina 30-13. A week later, Green Bay ran through New England 35-21.

In the 1997 season, Denver went 12-4 while Green Bay went 13-3. In the wild card round, Denver got revenge on Jacksonville in the form of a 42-17 blowout victory after dropping 21 in the 4th Quarter. In the divisional round, Green Bay defeated divisional rival Tampa Bay 21-7 while Denver upset the Kansas City Chiefs 14-10. Setting up the conference title games the next week. In the first game, at Pittsburgh, Denver knocked off the Steelers 24-21. Later that day in San Francisco, Green Bay beat the 49ers 23-10.

Green Bay came into the game an 11 and half point favorite over the lowly Broncos. Two factors going into the game was Elway's 0-3 record in the Super Bowl and the fact that the NFC had won 13 straight Super Bowls(the last AFC win was a 38-9 Raiders win over the Redskins). The pregame show featured Phil Hartman, Jewel, and the Beach Boys. The coin toss was out of Elway's past as Joe Gibbs and Doug Williams(who beat Elway in Super Bowl XXII) did the coin toss along with Grambling State head coach Eddie Robinson.

Immediately, Green Bay established their offense driving down the field to lead 7-0. Denver responded with a drive of their own to tie it at 7. On the next drive, Green Bay turned the ball over and on the 1st play of the 2nd Quarter, Davis took it in to make it 14-7. However, Davis suffered a migraine during the play and was gone for the rest of the 2nd Quarter. In that time, Green Bay dominated Denver, but the Broncos refused to let them go and at halftime it was Denver 17 Green Bay 14.

Quickly, Green Bay tied it at 17 at the beginning of the 3rd. Later in the quarter, Denver drove down the field and Davis scored again to make it 24-17. On the ensuing kickoff, Antonio Freeman fumbled the ball and Denver recovered. However, Denver failed to score after Elway was picked off. Green Bay capitalized with another score to tie it at 24. With under 2 minutes to go, Denver drove down the field. On 1st and goal at the 1, Holmgren told the Packers defense to let Denver score and so they did.

Down 31-24 with under 2 to go, Green Bay attempted to drove down the field and reached the Denver 35 but one in-completion and a penalty ended the game for Green Bay as Favre's pass on 4th and 6 fell incomplete. As a result, Denver had won the game. Terrell Davis with 184 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns was named MVP. John Elway finished going 12/22 for 123 yards and an interception but 1 rushing touchdown. Dorsey Levens, Green Bay's running back finished with 90 rushing yards and 56 receiving yards while Favre went 25/42 for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception.

In the post-game ceremony, Denver owner Pat Bowlen held the Lombardi trophy and proclaimed, "This one's for John!" in honor of Elway's 15 year quest at winning a Super Bowl. The next year, Denver went 14-2 and won another Super Bowl while Green Bay went 11-5 and fell to San Francisco in the Wild Card round. Elway retired following Super Bowl XXXIII, Terrell Davis had several injuries that led to his retirement in 2002. Mike Shanahan is still in Denver. Bill Romanowski went to the Raiders and retired in 2003 and admitted to steroid use in 2006.

Meanwhile, Dorsey Levens went to the Eagles in 2002 and ended his career there in 2004. Mike Holmgren went to Seattle after losing the wild card round and is 0-3 versus Green Bay since. Brett Favre and the Packers went 13-3 this year but fell to the Giants in the NFC Title game. Meanwhile the Broncos went 7-9 with Quarterback Jay Cutler. Both teams faced off in Denver in October where the Packers won in overtime 19-13.