This trio is super dedicated.
The only three people to attend every Super Bowl since the first in 1967 are now at ours.
“It’s amazing we got this far. There are so many things that can get in the way,” said Donald Crisman, who arrived Tuesday for his annual pigskin pilgrimage.
He bought a snowmobile suit for XLVIII — what might still be the coldest Super Bowl ever, kicking off at 6:30 p.m. at MetLife Stadium.
“I’m still praying for the 40s, but I’m bringing two layers of undergarments, and a ski mask. I’m hoping they’re not necessary.”
Crisman, 77, and the other two members of the exclusive club — Tom Henschel, 72, of Tampa, and Larry Jacobson, 74, of San Francisco — all met the day before Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000 at Atlanta’s Buckhead Diner, finally hearing about one another after they were honored for their stellar attendance in a game program the prior year.
“We all impressed ourselves with information we all knew about the games,” recalled Jacobson, a die-hard 49ers fan who has several other ongoing streaks, including attending every Summer Olympics since 1968 and every Rose Bowl for the past 50 years.
“It worked out very well when it came to splitting the check. I had no complaints,” said Jacobson, a retired real-estate officer for the city of San Francisco.
Since 2000, the NFL has been setting aside a block of tickets for the group so they can sit together.
“Not necessarily the good ones. We’re up in the 300s section this time. I think we’re up in heaven,” said Crisman, a retired electronics sales manager who said he and his pals always pay for their tickets.
This year, they’re ponying up $1,200 a seat — a far cry from the $12 they shelled out to watch the Green Bay Packers trounce the Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl I in Los Angeles.
“I was trying to impress a girl, so I said, ‘Would you like to see a football game in LA?’ ” recalled Jacobson. “But she was neither impressed by football, nor was she impressed by me.”
Over the years, there have been near-misses.
Crisman, for example, was without a ticket for Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego in 1998 — so he decided to ask for one on a handwritten card he pinned on his shirt: “Never missed the Super Bowl. Need one ticket.”
Incredibly, a group of doctors happened by with an extra — and sold it to him at $300 face value.
Their favorite Super Bowl — other than when their favorite teams were playing — was the historic third: the New York Jets vs. the Baltimore Colts in 1969 in Miami.
The underdog Jets won the game 16-7, just as QB Joe Namath famously guaranteed, becoming the first AFL team to vanquish an NFL champ and leading to the merger of the two leagues.
Crisman said his goal is to get to the 50th Super Bowl at Levi’s Stadium, in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 7, 2016.
“I say I’m going to quit at 50. They say they’ll talk me out of it,” Crisman said of his two Super pals.
The other two have put no such expiration date on their streak.
“My end is when they put me in a box,” Jacobson said.