KENNEBUNK, Maine — A Maine man who has attended every Super Bowl since the first game was played in 1967 said that Sunday’s contest will be his swan song.
Don Crisman, 89, of Kennebunk, is one of three people to attend every Super Bowl, the Lewiston Sun Journal reported. The others are Gregory Eaton of Detroit and Tom Henschel, a longtime resident of Cabot, Pennsylvania who now lives in Tampa, Florida.
The three have been part of the “Never Miss a Super Bowl” club. But the number will be shrinking drastically after Sunday’s game.
“This is the final one,” Crisman told WMTW. “I have said that before, but this time, I mean it, I mean it.”
Henschel, 84, is also making his final Super Bowl appearance, as he has been slowed by a stroke, the Chicago Tribune reported. Eaton, 86, said he plans to keep going to the game as long as his health is good, according to the newspaper.
Crisman, a longtime fan of the New England Patriots, is making the trip to Santa Clara, California, with his daughter, Susan Metevier.
“We made it to 60,” he said.
It has not been easy over the past few years. Aging has become a factor.
“My daughter has to get a wheelchair (for me) sometimes; some of these stadiums and the security lines are ridiculous,” Crisman told the Sun Journal. “And I can stay on my feet for 20 minutes, but after that I need a ride. So it’s gotten a little difficult getting around.”
Crisman first met Henschel at Super Bowl XVII in Palo Alto, California. Eaton, who runs a ground transportation company in Detroit, is the only member of the group who has not retired, the Tribune reported.
The other consideration for ending the Super Bowl run is one of economics. With the exception of Super Bowl 50, Crisman has bought his own tickets, and paid for his travel and accommodations.
General admission to the first Super Bowl, at the Los Angeles Coliseum, was $12. According to Vivid Seats, the get-in price for Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium was at $4,552 as of Feb. 3 -- for the cheap sets.
Crisman used to spend a week in the host city, enjoying the atmosphere, the Tribune reported. Now, he is only interested in the game.
“I think all of (the games) are big, they’re all fun. It’s just gotten so commercial,” he told the newspaper. “It’s a $10,000 trip now.”
Speaking of commercials, Crisman was one of the “Never Miss a Super Bowl” members to appear in a Visa ad 15 years ago.
“I kind of feel like a spoiled brat sometimes,” Crisman told the Sun Journal. “I meet so many people, typically in these 10 days, that just want to go to one (Super Bowl), and I’ve already been to 60. I feel that’s a little unfair, but it’s a bug I caught.”
That bug will have a happy ending for Crisman if the Patriots defeat the Seahawks.
“(A) good way to go out,” Crisman told WMTW. “We just got to secure that win.”
“As it’s finally here, it’s more bittersweet than I expected,” Metevier told the Sun Journal. “It’s really amazing and I’m so grateful for all the time and the memories. It’s so much more than football. It’s the trip of a lifetime, again, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to be with Dad one more time.”