Some say, you’ll never forget your first.

In the case of the Seattle Seahawks, that first Super Bowl still sticks in the back of my mind like it did a little over 15 years later.

Really, did the Rolling Stones sound as bad as I thought they did in person that day?

THANKS TO the NFL Network, for at least a half hour on Sunday, I got to relive that weekend during the network’s Super Bowl highlights marathon, which has become a yearly tradition on the Sunday before the big game.

Granted, the Stones were only a small part of Super Bowl XL in Detroit, but at the point when they rolled onto the stage, I truly believed the Seahawks had a little bit of momentum going their way against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Willie Parker’s long touchdown run ended that early in the second half. Along with a few drops by Seattle receivers — and some penalties — when the game was within the Seahawks' grasp didn’t really help either.

Then again, the trip might have been a little more memorable than the game in general.

I remember getting off the airplane the night before the game, not knowing if the entire trip was an elaborate joke pulled off by a friend of mine.

It wasn’t.

After navigating traffic the next morning and getting downtown for the game, I also recall the chance meeting with Brett Hull in a downtown sports bar — a place I later found out was owned by Chris Chelios — and being so shocked that I didn’t even think to get a photo with him.

Even worse, I had to get a quick crash course in texting before I left for Detroit.

Man, I should have taken more photos of that entire trip. Unfortunately, in my hurry to leave the office before my flight, I grabbed a digital camera that didn’t zoom.

Some commentators like to say there’s nothing like the pregame before the Super Bowl, and after seeing it in person, they’re right.

Once the teams leave the field after warming up, it’s non-stop chaos until the game kicks off.

GETTING MOST, if not all, of the previous Super Bowl MVPs onto the field was cool, but getting to meet and to interview a few of them a few years later at The Showcase golf exhibition at The Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course might have been a lot more memorable.

Of them, Marcus Allen (Los Angeles Raiders, Super Bowl XVIII), Mark Rypien (Washington Redskins, Super Bowl XVII), I’ve had the chance to chat with since. In addition, getting a few minutes with Seahawks fullback Mack Strong over the telephone was something I’ll never forget.

Flying back to Spokane the day after the game was a blur, with quick stops in St. Louis and Minneapolis, but seeing Rypien on the same flight back to Spokane was pretty cool as well.

Bruce Arians, who coached the Steelers wide receivers in that game in 2006, tries to win his first championship as a head coach with Tampa Bay this Sunday with Tom Brady — the guy that led the Patriots to one of theirs, over the Seahawks in 2015.

Sure, Seattle has returned to the Super Bowl twice since, winning one and losing another.

Watching them beat the Broncos was special, and so was the game against the Patriots, even with how that game ended.

And no, years later, the Rolling Stones weren’t all that bad either.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.