By Bill Bradley, contributing editor
Editor's note: This is one in five capsules looking at people who are involved in Pat's Run, the 4.2-mile run to honor late Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman, who died in 2004 by friendly fire while serving as an Army Ranger. The 10th annual Pat's run is scheduled for Saturday, April 26, ending at the 42-yard line of Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium. There also will be 34 shadow runs around the country.
Name: Tony Greco.
Age: 37.
Occupation: Sportswriter, covering college sports for Scout.com. He's not an Arizona State grad, but is a Tempe, Ariz., native who has become involved in the ASU Alumni Association chapter in Pittsburgh.
Years running: About four years, helping him to lose more than 100 pounds.
How long participating in Pat's Run: Preparing to run in his fourth shadow run in Pittsburgh, where he has been coordinating the Pat Tillman runs.
Why is Pat's Run important to him: "Arizona State has been a part of my life forever. I had two friends with ties to Pat that were on his ASU team. ... People thought (then-coach) Bruce Snyder was crazy for having a 195-pound linebacker. But they didn't know Pat. I knew Pat through those two guys and I was convinced people didn't know what he could do. ... I thought of him then as one of the players that embodies the school and what the program means."
What does Pat Tillman's legacy mean: "It's so much bigger than just ASU football now. When I learned that he was going to serve overseas, it didn't surprise me that much. ... I'm kind of a history buff and I think 100 years from now people will look at what he did and his legacy of these runs, people will say he was a modern-day patriot. He played college football and did it well. Went to the NFL and did it well. Then voluntarily chose to leave the NFL and go serve our country. That's an American patriot to me. I don't think he will go down as famous as one of our forefathers, but when you read in history books about people like Paul Revere, those were guys that were thought of like Pat Tillman back then."
