By Maria Alejandra Cardona and Nathan Frandino
NEW ORLEANS – For Donald Crisman, Tom Henschel, and Gregory Eaton, Super Bowl Sunday isn’t just a game — it’s a lifelong commitment.
The trio, known as the “Never Miss a Super Bowl Club,” has been there from the very beginning, attending every championship game since the first in 1967, and the devotion of the three remaining members is unshakeable.
“My family knows—if you have a wedding or funeral or something, Gregory won’t be there and they know that,” chuckled Eaton, 84, of Lansing, Michigan. “So don’t plan it around the Super Bowl. And my mother and my father would get upset at me. I’d say, ‘That’s it. That’s me.'”
STREAK CONTINUES
Reunited in New Orleans ahead of Sunday’s game, the three men reflected on their decades-long tradition, sharing old stories and fresh debates.
Eaton, a Detroit Lions fan, is throwing his support behind the Kansas City Chiefs in hopes of seeing a historic three-peat. Henschel, 82, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Crisman, 88, of Kennebunk, Maine, are both backing the Philadelphia Eagles this time round.
“Kansas City here I come,” Eaton began singing, to his friends’ obvious delight. “I want them to break the record because no team’s won three in a row,” he explained. “And I like records to be broken and set.”
Henschel said being a member of the ever-present club today was a blessing while Crisman, who arrived with his original Super Bowl I hat and a collection of memorabilia, summed up his feelings simply: “I consider myself lucky to be still living.”
Having witnessed the evolution of the event—from $12 tickets and empty seats at Super Bowl I to the global spectacle it is today—the trio has seen it all.
But they are as excited as ever as the big day approaches.
“I always say, if your team is in the game it’s like New Year’s and Fourth of July put together – that’s how much fun it is going to the Super Bowl,” Henschel smiled.
NEW ORLEANS, A FAVOURITE DESTINATION
Among the many host cities they’ve visited, one stands out.
“New Orleans opened it up for people of color because they weren’t going to get to the Super Bowl…So I’ve always liked New Orleans for that,” Eaton said.
“It’s my favorite city to watch the Super Bowl. I mean, the people here, the weather’s usually good and it’s just because we used to come down to the Mardi Gras, and, you know, we have to stay in the Black hotels and doing that. And in the United States of America, we shouldn’t have been that way. Well, New Orleans helped to change it.”
Through changing stadiums, dynasties, and decades, the bond between these lifelong fans remains unbreakable.
And what keeps them coming back year after year?
“Half of it is these clowns,” Crisman said, pointing at his laughing friends.
“I get to see them, which is meaningful to me, very meaningful. I’m so happy that we’re doing it again.”
(Additional reporting by Cath Turner; Editing by Sam Holmes)
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