Henschel

TAMPA, Fla. — If he lives to see 60, Tom Henschel will be happy.

Sixty Super Bowls, that is.

Henschel, a Cabot resident who will turn 78 in March, is in Atlanta getting ready to attend his 53rd consecutive Super Bowl.

“I've come to appreciate it,” he said of a Super streak shared only by Maine resident Don Crisman, 81. “I know how fortunate I've been.

“As long as I can talk a little bit, walk a little bit and be able to move around, I'm going to keep going. My goal is to get to 60. That's God-willing, of course.”

Henschel has witnessed that side of it as well.

San Francisco resident Larry Jacobsen, Wisconsin resident Bob Cook and Denver resident Stan Whitaker are former members “of our Super Bowl club,” in Henschel's words, who have died in the past decade.

“I miss them dearly. They were great guys, true fans of their teams,” Henschel said. “Don's a big Patriot fan, of course. When you look at all of our teams, the Steelers, 49ers, Packers, Broncos ... That's covered a lot of Super Bowls through the years.”

While Henschel still lives in Cabot, he spends the winter months in Tampa, Fla. His brother, Butler resident David Henschel, flew to Tampa earlier this week and the two made the six hour-plus drive to Atlanta on Wednesday.

They will meet up there with retired dentist Marshall Abes, who now lives in Atlanta. The Henschel brothers will stay in an Atlanta hotel through Monday.

“Marshall grew up four houses down from me when we were kids,” Henschel said. “We played together for years.”

Henschel and Crisman receive annual access to three Super Bowl tickets each, but must pay for them. The price of each ticket this year was $1,700.

Henschel paid $12 to attend the first Super Bowl, which had thousands of empty seats.

“We've got good seats, though,” he said of Super Bowl 53. “We're in Section 311, first row on the 50-yard line.”

He'll be sitting next to Crisman, of course, a diehard New England Patriots fan who will be watching Tom Brady play quarterback in his ninth Super Bowl.

“It's sickening,” Henschel said. “Don and I are bitter rivals. He is so obnoxious when the Patriots are in this game. But I guess I'm the same way when the Steelers are there.

“When Don and I see each other fior the first time Super Bowl weekend, we give each other the finger. Then, of course, we shake hands and are cordial to each other. It's all in fun.”

Henschel said a third man, a Detroit resident, has come forward claiming he's been to every Super Bowl game as well.

“All I know is his name is Mr. Eaton,” Henschel said. “He said he's gotten tickets through the years from former players he knows. I guess the NFL is trying to verify whether he's been to every game. I'm not sure how they'll do that.”

Henschel and Crisman will attend a luncheon Friday at the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. They will be made available for interviews afterward.

The pair have become an annual Super Bowl story.

Come Sunday, Henschel will no longer be part of the hype and will simply be one of the fans in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“I still can't believe New England got there again,” he said. “Kansas City never got any pressure on Brady. I think Los Angeles will,

“I want the Rams to win so bad. It's going to be a long night for me if they don't.”