Four months ago, Bob Papke of Sammamish took a leap of faith and bought four tickets to the Super Bowl. With two sons living in Denver, Papke figured that one of the two teams would make it to the ship on Feb. 2. So when it became known that the Seattle Seahawks would be facing the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl, the Papke family was more than excited.

“It was one of those freak deals where everything came together perfectly,” Papke said.

Papke originally bought the tickets with his wife, but when it became clear the families’ cities would battle it out, she told him to go with his three sons. The two oldest, Bryan, 40, and Craig, 37, live in Denver with their families and the youngest, Derek, 21, is currently at the University of Oregon. Bryan’s wife, Jodi, was born and raised in Denver. They have a son and a daughter, Grant and Reese. Craig and his wife, Kate, moved to Denver three years ago. They have two daughters named Harper and Rowan. Though Bryan and Craig now live in Denver, they have been lifelong Seahawks fans, and Papke’s grandkids have had to pick a side: Seahawks or Broncos.

On Jan. 31, Bob, Bryan, Craig and Derek headed to New York. From getting Skittles on their Alaska Airlines flight to hearing “Sea…Hawks” chants everywhere they went, the weekend was filled with Seahawks pride. Papke said the ratio of Seahawks fans to Broncos fans was 8 to 1.

They bussed to the game four hours early, grabbed some food and took their seats.

“The atmosphere was insane,” Papke said, explaining that the NFL does a fabulous job of making the Super Bowl more than just the game. That, combined with the huge Hawks win, made for the weekend of a lifetime.

The Papke boys stayed up until 3 a.m. to watch post-game festivities, and left for the airport at 4:30 a.m. After sleeping the entire way home, they were greeted in Seattle with balloons, banners and cheers from Alaska Airlines employees. They wanted show their appreciation to the 12th man.

“I will be an Alaska Air customer for life,” Papke said.

And while some of the family remains bitter, Papke said the experience was more than he could have imagined.

“It’s a great way to bond with the kids,” he said.

Papke said that the money, the crowds, the exhaustion–it was all worth it.

“There’s nothing like your teams first Super Bowl win,” Papke said.