Meet Don Crisman, Greg Eaton, and Tom Henschel, three longtime friends who are the last of the “Never Missed a Super Bowl Club.”
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As the name suggests, the trio has gone to every Super Bowl since 1967, when it was called “The First AFL-NFL World Championship Game.”
The group has been slowly losing members in recent years due to age and illness. At its peak, it consisted of six mega-fans. Last year, there was a fourth person, Norma Hunt, the widow of Kansas City Chiefs founding owner Lamar Hunt. She was the only woman to ever be in the club, but she passed away in June at 85 years old.
Don, 87, Greg, 84, and Tom, 82, were, of course, in the stands on Feb. 11, 2024, to watch the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Fransisco 49ers.
“When you love the game,” Henschel told Review Journal ahead of the game. “You got to go. … I was in the right place at the right time all of my life.”
The friends all met through the club and now consider each other “family.” Don and Tom first came together during the Super Bowl in 1983. They met Greg in 2010, according to CBS.
“I still get the chills when The Star Spangled Banner plays, and I put my hand on my heart. It’s something you have to experience,” shared Greg. “That never changes. That’s what I love about it, the thrill of it.”
Two of the Friends Nearly Lost Their Spots in the “Never Missed a Super Bowl Club.”
Remaining in the Never Missed a Super Bowl Club hasn’t been easy for the men. Don shared that he would have missed Super Bowl 32 in San Diego if fate hadn’t stepped in. He wasn’t able to buy tickets ahead of the game, so he flew into town hoping to buy one off a scalper.
He ended up making friends at his hotel, and they happened to have a spare.
“I met these three doctors on the elevator,” he remembered. “They said one fellow no-showed and said, ‘If you want to come with us, come.’ They didn’t believe my story, so they made me stay with them all game because they didn’t want to see the ticket scalped.”
Don came close to missing this year’s game as well. With the average ticket cost up to $9,500, he wasn’t able to afford the trip. Fortunately, Verizon helped and handed him two free tickets.
Tom almost fell out of the club in 1972 when he landed in the hospital on an IV and oxygen the day the Cowboys took on the Dolphins in Super Bowl 6. The doctors told him he needed to stay overnight, but he didn’t listen.
“They told me I had to stay (in the hospital) for 24 hours,” he admitted. “But I ran out the back door. I went back to the hotel and went to the game.”
Greg said he’s been extremely lucky and hasn’t had any trouble getting to the big game each year.
Sadly, Don believes Super Bowl LVIII may have been his last. He shared that his health has been failing, and he’s not sure he’s up for another trip.
“But I’ve said that before,” he noted.
While he’s prepared to leave the Never Missed a Super Bowl Club next year, he and the others do hope to make it to the 60th game in 2026, but that goal has nothing to do with the game itself.
“It’s half the reason I come,” Don said. “It’s to be with the guys; It’s a reunion.”
Greg added, “It’s something that we’ll go to our grave with.”
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