CABOT — It’s a streak that almost never got started.

Tom Henschel, 73, of Cabot, is in Glendale, Ariz., this weekend for Super Bowl XLIX. He has never missed the game in person.

Larry Jacobson, 75, of San Francisco and Don Crisman, 77, of Maine are the only other two people in the world who can say the same thing.

“I befriended (then Chicago Bears quarterback) Jack Concannon at a bar in Chicago and he gave me tickets to the first Super Bowl,” Henschel recalled. “It wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t even called the Super Bowl then.

“If he didn’t give me the tickets, I never would have gone to the thing. There were 30,000 empty seats at the L.A. Coliseum. CBS and NBC both televised the game, then taped over it.”

Now Henschel is attending his 49th consecutive Super Bowl.

“A lot of people think I get free tickets every year,” he laughed. “The NFL sends me the invoice every year, but we pay for them. All of the tickets are mailed to me, and I give the other guys theirs at a lunch we get together for the day before the game each year.

“I organize that lunch each year, and it’s supposed to be just the three of us, but a bunch of media members always show up for interviews.”

Henschel, Jacobson and Crisman receive two tickets each. The price this year is $1,500 per ticket.

“That’s $500 more per ticket than last year and they’re end zone seats,” Henschel said.

He paid $1,500 for a Super Bowl ticket once before, buying a ticket from a scalper in Phoenix for Super Bowl XXX between the Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.

The NFL has been sending him an invoice every year since.

“This (Super Bowl) is what I do,” Henschel said. “I save up for it every year. Last year, I spent about $5,500 in New York.

“That first Super Bowl cost 12 bucks.”

Henschel received a break this year. One of his nephews, Gabriel Henschel, lives 15 minutes from the stadium in Arizona. Henschel stayed with him this week.

“I took Gabriel to the game two years ago,” Henschel said. “I called him and said ‘it’s payback time.’”

Each year, he takes a family member to the Super Bowl. Henschel’s late brother, Jim, attended 32 Super Bowls with him. His brother David has gone twice, his mother went twice, his father five times, and two of his sisters have gone.

This year two nephews, Jonathan Wislie and Jared Walker of Natrona Heights, accompanied Henschel to Arizona.

“I only have one other ticket,” Henschel said. “The morning of the game, I’m going to put their names in a hat and whatever name I pull out, that’s who goes. The other one will have to stay and watch the game on TV with Gabriel.

“If New England got knocked out in the playoffs, Crisman was going to give me his other ticket. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”

Henschel, Crisman and Jacobson recently were flown to Los Angeles by NBC. They sat in the respective seats they had in the Coliseum for the first Super Bowl 49 years ago.

Henschel said the trio were interviewed for hours and will be spotlighted during a segment of Sunday’s Super Bowl pre-game show.

“They wined and dined us for an entire weekend. We were treated like kings,” Henschel said. “They asked us every question under the sun.”

The three have been sitting together at the Super Bowl each year since 1999. But besides an occasional e-mail, they do not have contact with each other all year.

“I can’t stand those guys,” Henschel said, smiling. “Every year, they show up, so serious about everything. I always tell them to lighten up.

“It’s the Super Bowl. We’re here. I just want to party the whole weekend.”

Each year, Henschel attends as many Super Bowl parties as he can. He’s met the late actor Steve McQueen, former NBA star Michael Jordan and other celebrities. He’s met NFL legends Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, Lamar Hunt and Terry Bradshaw, among others.

On this Super Bowl Sunday, he’s a celebrity himself.

Henschel’s brother, David, said the family is proud of the streak.

“So proud ... Tom’s worked hard to keep it going,” David Henschel said. “Our sister, Janet, and I are going to contact the Hall of Fame in Canton, the NFL ... We think those three guys should be on the field as honored guests for the coin flip for the 50th Super Bowl next year.

“We’re doing everything we can to make that happen.”

Henschel took David to the Super Bowl XXV game between Buffalo and the New York Giants. Their brother Jim was there as well.

“It was my first Super Bowl. Jim and Tom staged a bet behind my back as to whether I would sell my ticket to a scalper for $1,000 outside the stadium before the game.

“They set it up so a guy would walk over and offer me the money. I looked at my brothers and said, ‘Let’s go on in.’ Tom looked at Jim and said, ‘You owe me 50 bucks.’”

Henschel plans to continue his Super Bowl streak as long as he can. He remains in good health, and he said Crisman plans to drop out after the 50th Super Bowl.

“I’ve still got four nephews and a niece who want to go, and I haven’t had the chance to get them there,” Henschel said. “I’m hoping to stay around long enough to make that happen.”