Do you remember Apple's Super Bowl ad from Sunday night?

Of course you don't. Because Apple didn't run one. According to rumors, Apple was supposed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Mac — but instead, longtime nemesis Microsoft took center stage with its first national minute-long Super Bowl spot, one that was both memorable and touching. It was a somewhat rare win for Microsoft — along with a commanding win for Paul Allen, Microsoft cofounder and Seahawks owner.

Microsoft may have spent $8 million — a 30-second commercial costs $4 million — to run that commercial (watch below), and thanks to the cameo of ex-pro-footballer Steve Gleason, it was easily one of the night's most memorable.

Gleason, a former New Orleans Saints player who retired from the game in 2008, was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) in 2001. Now confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak, Gleason is communicating via technology. In the commercial, Gleason uses a Microsoft Surface tablet to speak and, through a robotic voice, deliver the commercial’s iconic line: “What is technology?”

The overall theme of the ad was empowerment, and the spot continues in that vein, showing Microsoft products in the hands of Gleason, the elderly, children, roboticists, surgeons and rocket scientists. It’s hard to watch the 60-second long spot without getting a little choked up, and I’m sure that was Microsoft's intention.

Unlike a number of other game sponsors, Microsoft did not release its ad prior to the Super Bowl. However, according to Lou Gellos, Microsoft's corporate communications director, the company did release some of the vignettes that comprise the full spot on YouTube. “As the week went on, we did have some people ask 'what these were for,'" Gellos said.

Apple eventually released its 30th anniversary video, but not until Monday morning (and, at the time of writing, only online). Interestingly, it hit on many of the same visual cues; both videos show robots and amputees using robotic limbs. One has to wonder if Apple caught wind of Microsoft's plans and worried that the too-similar spot would simply confuse people. In any case, Microsoft: 1.

The Team that Microsoft Built

Paul Allen left Microsoft, the company he co-founded with Bill Gates, long before Windows and even before the company went public in 1986, but not before it had become an industry-leading software giant. Virtually every desktop business computer ran the company’s DOS operating system, and the DOS version of Microsoft Word was a formidable competitor to WordPerfect and WordStar. Allen didn't sell his share of Microsoft when he left, meaning he made billions when the company went public and as it continued to grow.

Forbes puts Allen’s net worth at $15 billion. He has spent that money on numerous ventures, some of them notorious flops, but he has had a pretty decent sports franchise track record. He owns the NBA's Portland Trailblazers and the now Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks.

During much of the Seahawks' Super Bowl run, Allen has stood front and center. He’s the slightly-nerdy-looking guy with glasses and a baseball cap, usually grinning widely as he cradles his team’s latest trophy.

Allen used his substantial fortune in 1997 to not only buy his hometown team, the Seahawks, and keep them in in Seattle, but also to fund the creation of a new sports complex, the CenturyLink Field and Event Center, which was completed in 2011.

Though Allen has gone on to invest in and build other successful ventures like Ticketmaster and Vulcan, Inc., it's hard not to see how the Seahawks and this Super Bowl were almost a validation of Microsoft. Without the company Allen helped build, he probably wouldn’t have been able to buy the team, build the stadium and help them flourish.

Plus, the relationship among Microsoft, the NFL and especially the Seattle Seahawks, runs fairly deep. Gellos explained that not only is the Surface the official tablet of the NFL, but the Xbox is the official console and Bing is an official sponsor of the Seahawks. The person inside the Seahawks' mascot, Blitz, is actually a Microsoft employee, Gellos added.

Perhaps this is why Microsoft went all in, making a big and bold statement during one of the most widely-watched TV events of the year. It wasn’t just another Super Bowl with two big market teams. It was one with arguably two middle markets, Denver and Seattle, that most Americans weren't all that familiar with or have all that much interest in.

Microsoft Makes a Stand

This year, there was a real connection between the software company and the Seahawks — perhaps another reason Apple decided to opt out. I asked Apple why it didn't run an ad, but at the time of writing, had not received a response (we will update this post if and when it responds). Even before I knew about the close association between Microsoft and the Seahawks, I was tweeting about the obvious relationship. Others saw it, too, and clearly agreed with the perspective on Twitter. One of my tweets about the Super Bowl even received validation from the Microsoft itself.

If Paul Allen had thanked Windows, my night would have been complete. #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/9mk4aVOFg3 — Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) February 3, 2014

Microsoft...er....the Seattle Seahawks win the #SuperBowl! — Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) February 3, 2014

And the company didn’t shy away from the Allen connection

Congratulations, @PaulGAllen! We knew you back when. :) — Microsoft (@Microsoft) February 3, 2014

The Super Bowl is the biggest professional sports game of the year, but it does not define the measure of a company. Microsoft’s Surface tablet still struggles against Apple’s iPad. Its Windows Phone has a tiny, albeit growing, piece of the smartphone market. There are huge questions about Windows 8 and its relevance in a post-PC world.

These things are all true. But for this one night, Microsoft and its erstwhile cofounder one-upped Apple and were winners in the most public of ways.