A U.S. man who has been to every Super Bowl in history is preparing to make it an even 50 this year, with tickets to see the Carolina Panthers take on the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
Don Crisman says he and his friend, Stanley Whittaker, made a pact to go to 50 straight Super Bowls several decades ago, after they realized they'd already been to the first 11 or 12 of the championship games.
"We said we're going to try to get to 50," Crisman told CTV's Canada AM on Thursday, from San Francisco, where Super Bowl 50 is to be held.
The two friends attended 42 consecutive Super Bowls together, but Whittaker eventually had to drop out of the pact due to health issues. He died in July of 2013, at the age of 91.
"He didn't make it," Crisman said, "but there's a good chance I'm going to make it."
Now Crisman, 79, is one of only three men to have attended every Super Bowl in NFL history.
Crisman says his favourite games were Super Bowl III, when the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts, and Super Bowl XXXVI, when his favourite team, the New England Patriots, won their first championship.
He added that he's met many athletes and celebrities at games over the years, including Motown singer Diana Ross, and New York Yankees star Joe DiMaggio.
"You never know who you're going to run into," he said.
Crisman is predicting a Carolina Panthers victory on Sunday, although he would prefer for the Denver Broncos to win, for the sake of their quarterback.
"I would like to see Peyton Manning go out on top," he said.
