And that loyalty, all stemming from an initial meeting, it meant everything to Layden, who is an icon himself, still sharp as a tack at 88 years old and very deserving of his flowers while he is still with us. “We lost a giant today,” Layden said. “We were fortunate here. We had a Lombardi type. He always told me that you had to be tough enough to take the losses and the disappointment with the wins. He lived by that.”