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I have acknowledged the obvious every so often – the NFL once again put on a show that was able to keep me tuned in for four hours even though I had no stake in either team. How do they do it?

The commercials are great and entertaining. Usher had me practicing my moonwalk. But this year, the game itself eclipsed everything.

This is especially amazing when you consider the whole thing happens in real-time and keeps your attention without computer-enhanced superheroes flinging made-up weapons.

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It was rigorously obedient to all the laws of physics from beginning to end, right down to the final seconds when every fourth down became a cliff-hanger:

“First and goal,” the CBS play-by-play exclaimed. “They score. Touchdown! Jackpot Kansas City!”

After which, we saw Travis and Taylor embrace for a full 60 seconds. It was probably the most compelling unscripted show in television history.

I keep wondering, how does the NFL pull it off? Is it the philosophy of parity among teams, or, as one of the announcers implied, could there be something more at work?

“With the touchdown pass, Mahomes ends up with 333 yards. Why is this significant? Because the address of the stadium is 3333 Al Davis Way,” the CBS play-by-play continued. “He’s never lost in this building. They win it by three with a fling to Hardman, who started this season as a Jet.”

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Hmm. Interesting, right? And did you know that Mecole Hardman, the former jet who made that catch – happens to wear the number twelve? 1, 2? One plus two equals three.

And as for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce? Each has a first name with six letters and a second name with five letters. And what’s six multiplied by five? That’s right, 30! And if you take the number of days in the current month of February, and add one – what do you get? 30. And the number of initials in “N-F-L?”

Think about it — just not too hard.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. on ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.