Lansing Archives - StoryCorps

Two Friends Look Back At 60 Years Of Never Missing a Super Bowl

Don Crisman and Gregory Eaton have always been big football fans. In 1967, they independently went to Los Angeles for the first ever Super Bowl, which was then called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. Fifty years later, they finally met at Superbowl LI. 

An older white man and older Black man stand together in stadium seating, smiling and wearing matching ties and orange baseball caps, with a football game and large crowd in the background.Don Crisman and Gregory Eaton at Super Bowl LVII on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, AZ. Photo by Susan Metevier.

Today, they and their friend, Tom Henschel, are the last surviving members of the Never Miss A Super Bowl Club.

At StoryCorps, they look back on a lifetime of football.

Two older white men stand together in stadium seating with suit jackets and matching boat hats, with a football field and half-filled seating behind them.Never Miss A Super Bowl Club founder Stanley Whitaker and member, Don Crisman, at Super Bowl III on January 12, 1969 in Miami, FL. Courtesy of Don Crisman.

Top Photo: The surviving members of the Never Miss A Super Bowl Club: Tom Henschel, Gregory Eaton and Don Crisman at Super Bowl LVIII on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by Richard Gibson.

This broadcast is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Originally aired February 6, 2026 on NPR’s Morning Edition.