It’s been almost exactly 20 years since the last time diehard Vikings fan Bob Repin missed a game.
He wasn’t in attendance on Christmas Day 2005 when the Vikings suffered a 30-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on the road. He was in attendance the following week when the Vikings earned a 34-10 win over the Chicago Bears at home.
As unbelievable as it might sound, Repin has attended every single game the Vikings have played since. His streak sits at 323 straight games heading into the matchup between the Vikings and the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.
“This is my hobby,” said Repin, who actually lives in the suburbs of Chicago. “This is what I like to do.”
He isn’t alone. The man affectionately known as Viking Bob by his peers serves as the ringleader of the Century Club, a group of Vikings fans who never miss a game, regardless of where it’s being played.
The members include Repin, 55, Bryan Obeidzinski, 62, Mark Pietig, 66, and Rich Young, 46 — all with streaks in the triple digits — as well as Rick Fredin, 55, in line to reach that milestone sometime next year.
Viking fans Rick Fredin, Bob Repin, Rich Young and Bryan Obeidzinski tailgate before the Vikings game against the Baltimore Ravens at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
Though nobody in the Century Club will ever catch Repin as long as he has anything to say about it, Obeidzinski has been to 273 straight games, Pietig has been to 238 straight, Young has been to 188 straight, and Fredin has been to 83 straight.
They all agree that Repin is the heartbeat.
He’s had Vikings season tickets since 1992 and has only missed a couple of home games in that span. He’s been a fixture in the stands at the Metrodome, TCF Bank Stadium and U.S. Bank Stadium, and has found way to make sure some of his closest friends have also been in attendance.
“It’s like a drug,” said Obeidzinski, who lives in Naples, Fla. “I call Viking Bob the dope dealer because he’s the guy who convinced us all to try this and got us all addicted.”
As something of the founding members, Repin and Obeidzinski can trace their friendship back to at a random bar on the Florida Gulf Coast. They met in 1999 before the Vikings played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. They stayed in touch over the next decade or so until Repin eventually convinced Obeidzinski to run the table.
That’s the terminology the Century Club uses for anybody that goes to every single game in a season.
“I ran the table for the first time in 1999,” Repin said. “I thought after the Vikings lost in the the NFC Championship Game that they were going to come back and run through the rest of the league. You get hooked pretty fast. It’s easy to do.”
Ask anybody in the Century Club. They all started out by going to a handful of games here and there. That served as the gateway to what has slowly but surely become a borderline obsession.
“I went to maybe 10 to 12 games a season for a while there,” Obeidzinski said. “Then I broke up with my girlfriend and started running the table.”
The camaraderie is what keeps the Century Club connected. They know they can count on seeing each other at least once a week during the season, whether it’s meeting up to tailgate before every home game or getting together for a steak dinner before every road game. They all come from different walks of life and have forged a bond that none of them take for granted.
“It’s all because of Viking Bob,” said Pietig, who as a Bloomington resident is the only member of the Century Club who actually lives in Minnesota. “He’s the guy who pulls it all together.”
The travel doesn’t deter anybody in the Century Club from keeping the streak rolling. No matter the distance. They have all racked up their fair share of Delta miles and Marriott points while traveling the world in the name of their fandom.
“It’s a priority,” Pietig said. “I don’t give a flying (leap) about anything else.”
That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some near misses along the way. It seems like everybody in the Century Club has a horror story about how their streak almost came to an end.
Like the time Repin drove through a blizzard during the infamous snowstorm that caused the Metrodome to collapse. He managed to evade state troopers in rural Wisconsin who were closing the highway only to have the game be relocated.
Or the time Pietig missed a flight at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport this year because he literally fell asleep at his gate. He paid for his mistake by having to drive more than 10 hours to see the Vikings play the Detroit Lions.
“I had to leave a wedding in the Bahamas a little early to make it to a game,” said Young, who lives in Miami. “That was during the pandemic. They were doing COVID checks before we left the hotel. I was nervous because I knew if I tested positive, my streak was screwed.”
Though some cynics would argue that the Century Club should have had to reset their streaks after the pandemic, Repin, Obeidzinski, Pietig and Young have a reasonable rebuttal. They still have been to every game that has allowed fans. They paid a pretty penny to watch the Vikings play the Indianapolis Colts, the Houston Texans, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints, all of which allowed fans in a limited capacity during the pandemic.
That means the streaks are still intact, at least in their eyes.
“I have age on my side,” Young said. “The next youngest guy is 10 years older than me. I always give them a hard time about when they kick the bucket. I just have to stay healthy and keep it going and I’ll eventually catch them.”
All jokes aside, Young said he couldn’t imagine his life without the Century Club, and takes pride in the fact that they all share the same passion.
“It’s a great group of guys,” Young said. “It’s a tradition that we’re going to keep going for as long as we possibly can.”
How long will that be?
“We always say we’ll stop going to games when we’re dead,” Young said. “They could play a game on the moon and we’d be there.”
All part of being in the Century Club.
“I tell every fan they should run the table at least once,” Repin said. “Just try it and see what happens.”
LET’S GO STREAKING!
Bob Repin
Age: 55
Current Streak: 323
Streak Start: Jan. 1, 2006, vs. Chicago Bears
Bryan Obeidzinski
Age: 62
Current Streak: 273
Streak Start: Jan. 4, 2009, vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Mark Pietig
Age: 66
Current Streak: 238
Streak Start: Sept. 11, 2011, at San Diego Chargers
Rich Young
Age: 46
Current Streak: 188
Streak Start: Sept. 14, 2014, vs. New England Patriots
Rick Fredin
Age: 55
Current Streak: 83
Streak Start: Sept. 19, 2021, at Arizona Cardinals
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