As I prepare to watch Sunday’s 50th annual Super Bowl game between the American Football Conference champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference champion Carolina Panthers in Santa Clara California, my mind goes back to another Super Bowl game at I will never forget.

I am referring to Super Bowl XXXIII between the Broncos and my favorite team, the Atlanta Falcons on Jan. 31,1999, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida .The Broncos won 34-19 and it was Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway’s last game with the Broncos before his retirement.

Both teams went into the game with equal 14-2 records. The Falcons quarterback that day was Chris Chandler, who was the son in law of former All-Pro quarterback John Brody of the San Francisco 49ers.

As a frustrated long-time Atlanta Falcons fan, it is difficult for me to forgive Elway for ruining my favorite team’s only opportunity to date to win a Super Bowl.

Peyton Manning, former University of Tennessee Volunteer All-American quarterback and All-Pro quarterback with the Indianapolis Colts, where he won a Super Bowl championship, is the son of former University of Mississippi Rebels All-American and New Orleans Saints All-Pro quarterback Archie Manning and the brother of Mississippi Rebels All-American and New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who has won two Super Bowls.

While I will be rooting for Peyton Manning and the Broncos Sunday, I am picking quarterback Cam Newton, who quarterbacked the Auburn Tigers to a National Championship and is the favorite to win the National Football League’s MVP award, to win the Super Bowl. There is, after all, a slim chance for an upset. After all, my Atlanta Falcons did hand the Panthers their only loss of the season when they defeated them 20-13 at the Georgia Dome.