I know this is late but it’s a basically my version of a major life moment so I’m posting about it anyway.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT SUPER BOWL?!

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

When we won in 2014, I was ecstatic. That was an epic Super Bowl, it was ON MY BIRTHDAY, we seemed to break the curse of last minute miracle catches (or we at least learned to overcome the curse, the miracle catch still happened). It was the first time we had gone to the SB since I got settled in LA. (We actually played a month after I first moved there, in 2012, and I watched at a party of 100+ Giants fans. After we lost I hid in the bathroom while Katie got the car from the valet. It’s not a high point.)

2014 was spectacular. It felt like a magical season, the day we signed Revis I texted a friend saying if we didn’t win the Super Bowl that year, I wasn’t sure Brady would ever get another ring. Then Gronk stayed healthy and it felt like our year. This season, I knew we were good, but it felt so impossible. That Brady could have five. That we could win twice in three years. That we could so without Gronk.

Then we beat the Steelers in the Championship (fun fact, Katie is a Steelers fan and it’s like they waited until we no longer lived together to match up in the playoffs, which was v. considerate of them), and suddenly we were Super Bowl bound.

Gareth was there that weekend for my birthday. Months before, when he realized it was also SB weekend, I don’t think he was very excited. I am generally not super fun to be around during playoff games (right, Jake?), and I basically cried stressed out tears all through SB 49. I love winning Super Bowls but can’t actually handle the emotions of the Patriots playing in one. (I KNOW IT’S JUST A GAME, caring too much is the definition of being a sports fan.)

Anyway, back to SB 51. Wow, was it bad, huh? I remember when the Broncos were blown out by the Seahawks thinking we probably still would have lost but we’d never let ourselves be embarrassed like that in a Super Bowl. And suddenly it was happening. The game didn’t start until 12:40 am my time, and an hour in it was so clear we had lost I stopped feeling upset. I realized it was the last game before a very long off season, and decided to enjoy watching them play for the final time until September. I did stay aware of what we needed for a comeback, and truly believed if any team could make a historical, never before seen comeback it could be us. But did I think the odds were in our favor? Definitely not.

sad we’re losing

And then Hightower sacked Ryan and changed the tone. Suddenly we were unstoppable. Everything changed. We got our own miracle catch, and made TWO two point conversations to tie the game. It was insane. It was the most amazing comeback, most amazing game I had ever seen. And then it was overtime. We won the coin toss. It’s football and nothing is ever certain (the Falcons will back me up on this), but it didn’t feel like we couldn’t lose. Not after everything.

I did a presentation on American football for my kids at the beginning of the school year, and when the playoffs started I showed them clips and kept them informed about what was going on. When I went to school the next day, everyone knew we had won and all my classes were begging to watch. So not only did I get to see it live, but I got to relive it about six times that week, haha.