The group’s founding members, Tom Henschel, 78, and Don Crisman, 83, were both in attendance at the AFL-NFL World Championship Game at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1967, which would later become known as Super Bowl I.
But the football fans didn’t meet until years later when they crossed paths while waiting in line for a ticket toThe Tonight Show with Johnny Carsonin 1983, they toldUSA Todayin 2019.
The then-strangers realized they both attended every Super Bowl after striking up a conversation — and with Super Bowl XVII scheduled that week in Pasadena, California, the club was born.
After the deaths of three of their members, Henschel, Crisman and Gregory Eaton, 80, are now the only surviving members.
Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP
Crisman said he was lucky enough to come across people who were selling tickets to Super Bowl I. If he hadn’t, the club may have never been formed.
“They worked for a bank in Denver that was involved in a sponsorship with the Broncos, and five tickets were given to the bank,” Crisman recalled in an interview withThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Nobody wanted them.”
According to the newspaper, only 16 people are officially recognized for attending every Super Bowl, with Henschel, Eaton and Crisman among them.
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images; David Eulitt/Getty Images
Keeping the streak alive has been expensive with the rising costs of airfare and Super Bowl tickets. The lowest price for a ticket from a major ticket reseller is almost $4,700 for a nosebleed seat, whereas the price for a seat at the stadium hosting Super Bowl I was about $10.
But the group’s dedication has been unwavering.
“I miss weddings. I miss funerals,” Eaton, a Detroit Lions fan, toldAJCof the feat. “But I’ve never missed Super Bowls.”
Kickoff for Super Bowl LIV is at 6:30 p.m. EST at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
source: people.com
