Newlywed Clinton residents Amanda and Chris Peters are now Super Bowl-bound Seattle Seahawks fans.

They recently won tickets to the coveted game after entering their names into a drawing at the Goose Community Grocer nearly five months ago.

To hear Chris tell the story of how an all-expenses-paid trip was won is to hear the story of Chris and Amanda working hard, rooting for the Seahawks, and a lifetime of football fandom.

Cheering the Seahawks has been a Peters family pastime for decades and became especially important after former NFL wide receiver Jeff Chadwick visited Peters’ father following his diagnosis of leukemia. Chadwick gave him a football signed by many players on the 1991 team, a prized possession of Peters’. His dad died many years ago, but the legacy of rooting for Seattle continued, and Chris could not help but wonder if some supernatural or divine work was at hand.

“Is my dad the reason I get to go to the Super Bowl?” Chris asked. “I’ll never know, but that’s what I’m thinking.”

Eventually, Seahawks fever spread to Amanda, especially after they married about six months ago. These days, she’s just as committed to the “I’m in,” “Louder,” “Go Hawks” attitude that has swept Washington.

While getting some groceries from the Goose Grocer in Bayview, Amanda entered both of their names into a drawing contest sponsored by SuperValu — a grocery supplier for the Goose —, the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA), and the American Dairy Association. It was one of those boxes at the end of an aisle, the type of thing people hopelessly throw their names in and never win.

“All we did was put it out on an end cap with some promotion stuff,” said Dan Hill, the store manager at the Goose, of the drawing. He estimated about 100 entries were in the Goose’s contest box.

That was back in September, long before the Seahawks were NFC West champions, before Seattle beat New Orleans in a rain-soaked and windy playoff game, and before Richard Sherman deflected an end-zone pass that was intercepted to win the NFC Championship title.

So when Chris got a call from a Minnesota phone number last Saturday, he ignored the message. Hours later while on the ferry to Clinton, he listened to it. He could hardly believe what he heard: his name was selected to win $1,000 toward airline tickets, a three-night hotel stay in Manhattan, and tickets to Super Bowl 48 featuring the Seattle Seahawks against the Denver Broncos. Skeptical, Peters hit “dial” as soon his fingers could swipe and touch. Except he had to leave a message and wait for what he said felt like hours, but was only about 30 minutes. In the meantime, he replayed the voicemail.

“I listened to the message three times,” he said.

When a SuperValu representative called back and informed Chris he was indeed going to the Super Bowl, he told her it was difficult to believe. He drove off the ferry, up to Neil’s Clover Patch where Amanda works, and sat down at a table, trying to keep his composure.

When he finally told her, she was ecstatic. Amanda was quick to point out that Chris had tears in his eyes and stayed up later than normal this week, giddy like a child on Christmas Eve.

“I hate to say it, but you had tears in your eyes honey,” Amanda said, leading both of them to laugh.

Despite their ample collection of Seahawks gear — even their dog has a jersey with “00” on the back — neither attended a game during this season. In fact, Amanda, a Colorado native who said her stepfather was a die-hard Broncos fan, has never been to a Seattle Seahawks football game.

“To be able to take her to her first Seahawks game is unbelievable,” Chris said.

Hopefully, all the excitement and adrenaline will keep them warm. Much has been made about the Super Bowl being in an open-air stadium in New Jersey in February. Weather forecasts predict a chance of snow Sunday, but the couple said they were prepared.

For all the unlucky folks watching the game on TV, the Peterses said people could try to catch them with a bright green sign they made. It reads “12th man here from Whidbey Island.” They also had a little empathy for those they will temporarily leave behind this weekend.

“Sorry, but we’re going to be rooting for you,” Amanda said, grinning a wide, Cheshire cat grin.