February 4, 2007. Dolphin Stadium in Miami. The Colts beat the Bears 29-17 and brought a Super Bowl to Indianapolis for the first time. Eighteen years later, that night still hits different for anyone who lived it.

The 2006 Colts went 12-4 in the regular season, but the playoffs were where they made their name. After years of January heartbreak, including a brutal divisional loss to Pittsburgh the year before, Indianapolis finally put together a complete postseason run.

They beat Kansas City 23-8 in the Wild Card round. They ground out a 15-6 win over Baltimore in the divisional round. And then came New England.

The Patriots had ended the Colts' season three times in five years. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick owned Peyton Manning in the playoffs. When New England jumped out to an 18-point lead in the AFC Championship, it looked like the same old story.

Indianapolis scored 32 points in the second half.

Manning led the biggest comeback in conference championship history. Marlin Jackson picked off Brady with a minute left—Jackson sliding to the ground, arm raised, one of the most iconic images in franchise history. The Colts were going to the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Sunday

It rained the entire game. The field was a mess. Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and Chicago led 7-0 before the Colts ran a play.

Indianapolis responded with 16 straight points. Dominic Rhodes ran for 113 yards. Joseph Addai added 77 more. Manning hit Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison. Kelvin Hayden sealed the win with a 56-yard pick-six in the fourth quarter.

• Final: Colts 29, Bears 17

• MVP: Peyton Manning (25/38, 247 yards, 1 TD)

• Rushing: Rhodes 113 yards, Addai 77 yards, 10 rec for 66 rec yards

• Attendance: 74,512

Dungy became the first Black head coach to win a Super Bowl. Lovie Smith, the Bears' coach, was also Black, making it the first Super Bowl with two Black head coaches.

"I'm proud to be the first African American coach to win this, but more than that, Lovie Smith and I showed that you can do things the right way and still win."

Indianapolis went off. Temperatures were in the 20s, and thousands of people still packed the streets downtown. A few days later, 70,000 fans showed up for the parade. Manning held the Lombardi Trophy on the steps of the RCA Dome. The city had its championship.

The Colts had been in Indianapolis since 1984. The city built stadiums, hosted events, and pushed to be taken seriously as a sports town. Super Bowl XLI validated all of it.

Manning went on to win another ring with Denver. Dungy retired after 2008. The 2009 team made it back to Super Bowl XLIV but fell to the Saints 31-17.

If you were watching, you remember where you were when the clock hit zero. You remember watching Devin Hester take the opening kickoff 92 yards to the house and thinking oh no, not like this. You remember the rain in Miami, the parade through downtown, the feeling that Indianapolis had finally arrived.

That was 18 years ago today. And it still matters.