Poised For 48 Straight: 3 Fans Reflect On Attending Every Super Bowl
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- There will be more than 80,000 people in MetLlife Stadium when Super Bowl XLVIII kicks off on Sunday.
But if the NFL were to take attendance, it would find only three people with a perfect record stretching back to the very first championship game in 1967.
On one couch in Midtown on Friday, CBS 2's Lou Young met the accumulated experience of 141 Super Bowl trips.
From California, Maine and Pennsylvania they are the three fans who have seen every one.
Now Tom Henschel, Larry Jacobson and Don Crisman are part of a club of sorts – The Super Bowl Attendance Club.
Each game carries its own special memories dating to when tickets were $12 and fans wore a tie to the stadium.
When asked which game stood out the most, their answers varied.
"Super Bowl XIII when the Steelers beat the Cowboys for the second time in the Orange Bowl," Henschel said.
"Super Bowl XXIII: 49ers vs. Cincinnati," Jacobson said.
"Super Bowl III, because that really made the Super Bowl 'super.' If Joe Namath didn't win, I think the Super Bowl would've been a bust," Crisman said.
But the "Big Game" took off and got bigger every year until now. These guys are minor celebrities just for showing up.
As for what town is the best host, they were pretty much in agreement that warm weather rules.
"I still like Miami and San Diego, both," Crisman said.
"New Orleans for the Super Bowl. It should be there every year," Henschel said.
There was on late contender, though.
"New York City," Jacobson said. "Absolutely!"
Perhaps he was just being nice.
The three of them noted one unusual downside.
"I've never seen a commercial, an NFL commercial because I'm at the game," Henschel said.
And there's also been an unexpected upside.
"One of the good things is when we're here we don't have to go to Super Bowl parties. I'm not a party guy. I want to concentrate on football and I don't want people who don't know about football telling me what should go on in the game," Jacobson said.
The club, of course, used to be larger, but if you miss one game you're out. The remaining perfectionists are starting to get competitive about that.
"Maybe that's part of this game. We're trying to see who the survivor is," Crisman said.
The three men said this never started out as goal to attend every Super Bowl. It just turned out that way. A couple of the guys said they may take a break once they get 50 under their belt.
The men have become friends who typically spend six days in the Super Bowl city. They admitted the week is not all about football.
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