A Super Bowl super fan

Photo: The Canadian Press

Donald Crisman has more than a half-century of Super Bowl memories behind him, from taking a 24-hour train ride to Super Bowl II to seeing his beloved New England Patriots win in overtime last year.

But he says the 52nd Super Bowl featuring the Philadelphia Eagles and the Patriots on Sunday just might be his final big game.

The 81-year-old resident of Kennebunk, Maine, is a member of the ever-shrinking "Never Miss a Super Bowl Club" that's attended every season finale since its inception in 1967. He has bought his own ticket every year except one.

Crisman was featured in a 2010 Visa commercial along with three friends who had attended every Super Bowl. He is attending this game with a heavy heart because friend Larry Jacobson of San Francisco died last fall. Crisman said attending the game without Larry would be different, and he might not have gone if the Patriots weren't in it.

Crisman's crew at the Super Bowl included Jacobson and Pittsburgh Steelers fan Tom Henschel and Green Bay Packers fan Bob Cook, who also had attended every game. But the group has dwindled to just him and Henschel after the death of Jacobson last year and Cook, who died in 2011. He's welcoming Jacobson's daughter Heather on Sunday and expects to shed a few tears when she sits in what would have been her dad's seat.

His son, Don Jr., called his dad "the most consistent force in football." He said it will be different when his father no longer goes to the big game. After 51 Super Bowls and counting, the elder Crisman said that day might be coming soon.

"I'm thinking about it," he said. "But this year, I'm taking the Patriots."