Before representing their country in Sochi, lots of Team USA athletes will take time out from last-minute preparations (or get them out of the way beforehand) to watch tonight’s Super Bowl XLVIII between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks.
As you’d figure considering that the U.S. Olympic Training Center is a little more than an hour south of Denver in Colorado Springs, Colorado, there’s a healthy group of Colorado Olympians on the 2014 U.S. Olympic Team - 19 in all.
Two of them are the Fletcher brothers, Bryan and Taylor (pictured), who will be competing in the Nordic combined event that gets started Feb. 12.
The Steamboat Springs natives are massive Broncos fans and both of them have packed Broncos gear for their trip to Sochi - and, naturally, both of them think Denver will be victorious.
“I will have my Champ Bailey jersey, old-school Broncos hat and Broncos beanie,” Taylor said to TeamUSA.org. “If things are going well, the jersey will be taken off and put on the couch and the baseball cap comes on! I don’t believe I am superstitious.”
Bryan said that he’ll have a “lucky Mile High Salute t-shirt” to wear as he watches the game while traveling in the early morning hours “because jet lag will probably kick in.”
As for the eight-person Washington Olympian contingent, short track skater and ‘Hawks fan J.R. Celski (a native of nearby Federal Way, Wash.) is likely more than ready to cheer his team on.
Celski received perhaps the biggest honor a Seattle football fan can have in 2010, when he was chosen to raise the 12th Man flag before a game at the noise factory that is CenturyLink Field.
Perhaps he’ll be watching the Super Bowl with eight-time Olympic medalist and NBC Olympics’ own Apolo Anton Ohno, who was born in Federal Way.
“We will be watching the game at the hotel or IBC (International Broadcast Center) or maybe in the mountains via streaming content on my iPad :-),” Ohno said in the same TeamUSA.org piece. “Excited for the big game! Have friends who play on the Broncos and obviously my team is the Seahawks.”