Well, if this is the cutest damn thing I’ve heard all week…
Three friends who have attended every single Super Bowl for the past 55 years are making their final trip together this weekend to SoFi Stadium, to watch the Los Angeles Rams take on the Cincinnati Bengals in LA.
All three men are in their 80’s now, and they were all there at the very first AFL-NFL World Championship Game in 1967, not too far from this year’s host city.
Don Crisman is an 85-year-old Maine resident who says this will be the last Super Bowl he attends. The other two, 82-year-old Gregory Eaton of Michigan and their other friend Tom Henschel, say certain health problems and aging could make it harder for them to attend going forward, too.
80-year-old Tom, who spends half of the year in Florida, says he wants to keep going to the big game until 2026:
“I still think I have a few years left. I’m going to try to make it to 60. But old man age is catching up to all of us.”
The old friends use the time they get together at the game to catch up on life and reminisce about the old days.
Don and Tom actually met at the 1983 Super Bowl, and Gregory met them much more recently at the 2010 Super Bowl. They were apart of a small group of fans who had been to every Super Bowl, but as time has gone on, most of the other members have passed away.
Last year, in Tampa, they were unable to sit next to each other because of COVID-19 restrictions… they had to sit several rows apart, so they’re looking forward to being able to enjoy the game like the used to for many years prior to COVID.
Gregory will be cheering for the Rams, because he says watching Matthew Stafford, a former Detroit Lions quarterback, get a ring is the closest thing he’ll ever see to his Lions winning one in his lifetime. He payed about $2,500 for his ticket this year, but honestly, that kinda sounds like a steal compared to other prices I’ve seen online.
I guess you get a pretty good discount if you’ve never missed a game before, and rightfully so, but it’s always been about the love of the game and the relationships these men have built over the years, Gregory adds:
“We just love football.
I look forward to it every year, and the relationships we’ve had these past five years are unbelievable.
We’re like a brotherhood.”
I’m sure we’re all excited about the food, the commercials, and the halftime show that’s always apart of the Super Bowl and celebrating the end of another exciting year of NFL football, but this is the kind of stuff that makes it really worth while.
Yes, I’m very sentimental about the big game this year, and I hope these guys have the best day ever tomorrow in LA as they close out one of the coolest traditions I’ve ever heard of.
