What was the exact date of the first Super Bowl?

Time is weird.

20 years can come and go in what seems like an instant.

Can you believe the Denver Broncos won their first Super Bowl 20 years ago today? My, how things have changed.

YouTube, Twitter, Facebook — none of the social media we indulge in every day were around back in 1998, there was no opportunity to watch football streamed on our favorite devices; neither that technology, nor the devices themselves, had been invented.

Instead, we all huddled around the television, in our living rooms with our favorite friends, and watched the Super Bowl together.

In our Denver living room, it was Pops and me, and that was it. Just as it had been for years together, watching the Broncos every Sunday at home, save those rare opportunities to attend games at Mile High Stadium in person.

That day, it was all about Brett Favre versus John Elway, two of the greatest quarterbacks of the 90s decade, two legends in their own right. Favre was the reigning king of football, leading his Green Bay Packers to their first Super Bowl win in 30 years, just the season before. He and the Packers were clear favorites to beat Elway and the Broncos, who had never won the big game.

That’s what it was to be a Broncos fan in those days. If you opened a sports almanac — it’s what we used to use to look up stats, kids — you’d see a multitude of NFL records set against the Denver Broncos. If you watched NFL Films, there were the Broncos in bright orange and blue giving up huge plays, unless it was Elway scrambling around to make something out of nothing.

In the 80s, the Broncos defense was decent and Elway was surrounded by zero playmakers. Maybe that’s why everyone expected him and the Broncos to lose to Favre and the Packers that year.

But, what they may have failed to realize was the fact the Broncos were stacked with talent in 1997. Terrell Davis was arguably the best running back in the game — or at least second-best to Barry Sanders — while Shannon Sharpe was a pass-catching tight end no one had seen like him before. The offensive line was a close-knit group which was one of the first to utilize zone-blocking and we can’t forget about Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey.

Speaking of Davis — the greatest running back I had a chance to see in person — the tough running back was legendary in Super Bowl XXXII.

Green Bay struck first with a touchdown, but the Broncos tied the game at 7-7 when Davis dove over the goal line. It’s still the only Super Bowl in which both teams scored touchdowns on their opening drives.

But the second quarter brought on a migraine headache for Davis, who had to sit out the game. Still, Davis proved his toughness when then-head coach Mike Shanahan told Davis to get into the game as a decoy on a fake handoff Elway would carry into the end zone himself. Davis obliged, then went to the locker room, and Denver led 14-7, before going into halftime ahead 17-14.

Davis heroically came back to the field in the second half, but his early third quarter fumble led to a Green Bay field goal to tie the game up at 17-all.

After a fumble and three-and-out by Denver’s offense, Elway knew it was his time to take over. He completed a 36-yard pass to McCaffrey and scrambled in his career-defining play, the “helicopter play” on third down to give the Broncos a first and goal. Davis punched the ball in two plays later for the 24-17 lead.

At 38 years old, Elway carrying that ball and diving into two defenders, giving up life and limb, only to be hit violently and spin in the air like the blades of a helicopter, was proof he was going to do everything in his power to win that game.

But, after an Elway interception, Favre pushed his team 85 yards to once again tie the game up, now early into the fourth quarter, at 24-24.

After exchanging punts, Denver found themselves 49 yards away from paydirt with 3:27 on the clock. On that drive, Elway found Howard Griffith on a 23-yard screen pass in which McCaffrey laid-out a Packers defender, and the Broncos marched to the one-yard line before TD scored the game-winning TD. Green Bay pushed back, all the way to Denver’s 35, but after Atwater’s atomic hit which sent himself and two others from the game, the Broncos defense tightened and secured the victory.

After the game, Pat Bowlen presented Elway with the Vince Lombardi Trophy proclaiming, “This one’s for John!”

It was the first time in Broncos history they weren’t playing second-fiddle. They weren’t the runners-up, not just the AFC champions, but the NFL champions. Denver may have been spoiled with the Colorado Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup in their first year as a franchise, but the Mile High City had also waited a long time — 38 years to be exact — to celebrate their Broncos as world champions.

Twenty years ago today, Denver went wild, with people driving around and honking their horns like wild men, others shot off fireworks and more.

Come to think of it, Super Bowl XXXII seems like forever ago. Denver has grown out of control. Elway, Davis and Sharpe are all in the Hall of Fame, and the Duke of Denver is now the team’s general manager.

A few things haven’t changed, though.

With Elway in charge, the Broncos have gone to two more Super Bowls and brought home a third Vince Lombardi Trophy. After that game the Duke proclaimed, “This one’s for Pat!”

Although nowadays John Elway isn’t leading a fourth-quarter comeback on the field, he is currently trying to lead his Broncos back from the brink and a 5-11 disaster of a season.

And with Elway in charge, the Broncos have consistently been the center of attention, even in light of terrible seasons.

Twenty years ago today, Elway earned his place among the greatest players in football history. Now, he’s working on a reputation as one of the best front office men in the league.