Mean Joe Greene cried.
The greatest Steelers player of them all weeped on the phone from Texas on Thursday as he slowly described his emotional, final visit with Dan Rooney on Saturday.
“He was in a facility in Green Tree,” Greene said, pausing often to collect himself. “He recognized me then. He didn’t say anything. He was very weak.
“I just ... phew” — Greene halted, fought through tears and urged his baritone voice to continue — “tried to tell him how important he was in my life.”
No player and NFL owner had a fonder, longer-lasting relationship than Greene and Dan Rooney, both Pro Football Hall of Famers.