Each year leading up to the Super Bowl, we are entertained with stories of individual achievements, journeys, and moments that really capture the uniqueness that surrounds this record-breaking event. This year over 123.4 million viewers were tuned in to this championship, which saw the Chiefs close out the favorite 49ers in overtime. While the game might not have been the most exciting, what did excite many fans were the stories surrounding the players, coaches, and fans.
The one stand out story this year was the one about five veterans who attended every Super Bowl since 1967. These five veterans have preserved and treasured their friendships through this tradition for nearly six decades. There is an important life lesson buried within the bond of these lifelong friends.
Before we dive into the lesson of the day, and for clarity’s sake, I offer a few facts about the Super Bowl:
- The championship game was not called the Super Bowl until 1969.
- New Orleans and Miami have each served as the host city 11 times, and next year, New Orleans will host a record-breaking 12th
- The first Super Bowl was played in the Los Angeles Coliseum, where the Packers defeated the Chiefs 35-10; the Packers’ Bart Starr bested the Chiefs’ Len Dawson.
- The New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers have each won 6 Super Bowls and Tom Brady holds the record for a quarterback with 7 Super Bowl wins. Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw are tied for second with 4. I’m guessing 28 year-old Patrick Mahomes will add to his 3 Super Bowl wins before he thinks about retiring.
- Advertising cost $7 million dollars, per ad, in 2024 compared to $42,000 in 1967.
- The players on the wining team in 2024 will receive $164,000 and the players on the losing team make an additional $89,000. In 1967 the winning players earned $15,000, while the losing team players earned $7,500.
Back to the standout story that captured our attention. As I stated, each year since 1967, these five friends planned to meet and renew their time-honored tradition of attending the Super Bowl. Let’s take a minute to think about this. For more than five decades these veterans, who served our country with honor, made a pact and kept that pact to meet up each year to celebrate life and honor their undeniable friendship—we should all be that lucky. I believe that these accomplishments are far more important than any sporting award.
Up until 2018, these friends made the trips together, but in the last few years the 5 didn’t all make it to the big game. Sickness and accidents have kept some away, but all 5 stayed in contact as if they all were physically together. This year was a little sad as only two of the five were able to attend. These lifelong friends met at the Super Bowl to watch the game, catch up all things grandchildren, and relive the lives that remain in the past.
Sylvan Schefler, Harvey Rothenberg, Lew Rappaport, Larry McDonald and Al Schragis are the names of these veterans, and we all could a learn a lesson or two from these heroes. When asked what these annual pilgrimages really meant, Harvey Rothenberg responded that it spoke to the incredible story of friendship. Harvey went on to say it was more about the comradery than the game itself. He went on to state that their friendship was one that was everlasting—that is truly priceless and we should all be so lucky.
It got me thinking that even though life is moving fast, we should slow down the needle and we should be celebrating friendships. This story got me thinking about what is a friendship and how come we don’t more readily acknowledge or celebrate this mostly unspoken and unrecognized treasure?
A few comments about friendship:
Friendship is certain and without condition
Friendship is by choice and not judgmental
Friendship is a joy, and it uplifts you
Friendship is welcoming and there when you are alone
Friendships are delighted in your blessings and shoulder some of the pain in your heartbreak.
In this day in age, there are few constants and fewer things that we can rely upon. Friendship is one such truth we should all be grateful for. These true bonds of friendship withstand the force of time, family, judgment, disagreement, failures and successes. These friendships possess love and unspoiled hope with an underlying and ever-present support.
You wouldn’t find strains of jealousy in friendships. Some friendships are built over a lifetime and others have developed later in life. Regardless of the time served with a true friend, they are all treated as if they are a treasure, because they are.
There are few things you can count on in life and genuine friendships are the exception. I thought today would be a good day to call a friend and let them know how important and special that shared bond really is.
I need to add one gratuitous comment about friends and politics. I was told many years ago that you can’t find a friend in politics. I generally believe that is accurate, but over the years, if you are lucky, you can find one or two that make it through the gauntlet of politics, but it is very rare.
Hats off to the 5 veterans who started this conversation. To Harvey, Lew, Larry, Al and Sylvan—thank you for your service and thank you for teaching us an invaluable lesson about enduring friendship.