“I don’t recall anybody telling him to do that,” Greene said. “That was Ernie.”

White said he was in “deep grief” Friday.

“Ernie was a very colorful person that you couldn’t help but like off the football field — a little different on the field as we well know,” White said. “Ernie had gotten into the ministry and ... was a true inspiration to Joe, L.C., and myself when we were together. You know, it’s all about where you end up, and Ernie blossomed into an individual that I respected, admired and will miss.”

Holmes, drafted out of Texas Southern, was part of a defense that held Minnesota to 17 yards rushing and 119 total yards in the 1975 Super Bowl. The Steelers won their first title, 16-6. They were back a year later, beating Dallas 21-17 for the championship.

The 1976 Steelers defense was one of the best in NFL history, shutting out five opponents — three in a row — during a nine-game, season-ending winning streak. The Steelers allowed only 28 points during those nine games, an average of slightly more than a field goal per game.

“He was devastating and would just destroy the opponent across from him,” Russell said. “Sometimes I had to remind him to tackle the guy with the pigskin. He was a brilliant player. He played all with his heart.”

He used his head, too. Besides “Fats,” he was also known as “Arrowhead” because in 1974 he shaved his head, leaving only an arrow-shaped pattern of hair on his skull.

“I asked him, ‘What the hell did you do that for?”’ longtime Steelers director of communications Joe Gordon said. “We were getting ready to play the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium. He said, ’That’s to point me to the quarterback.’

“He had a split personality. He was a maniac on the field and a teddy bear off it. But he was a terrific guy.”

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