When Rockne Freitas died last week, it brought back childhood memories for many.

For me, it was 1971, when “Rocky” Freitas rushed for 8,000 yards and, oh, I’m not sure … it must have been at least 300 touchdowns.

We didn’t have video games, but we did have lots of tabletop sports games. One I can’t remember much else about included a bunch of football trading cards that were used to play the game. A card in our game was that of the Detroit Lions right tackle, Rocky Freitas.

Not caring that he was a lineman, and knowing he was Hawaiian, I put Freitas at running back and built my unstoppable offense around him. As indicated by the stats above (forget about whatever Football Reference says for a minute), Rocky crushed it, breaking every existing and future rushing record.

When I met the real Rockne Freitas many years later, the remnants of that game were long gone, in some landfill in Illinois. And I’d forgotten all about the part that Rocky Freitas, the greatest running back of all-time, had played in my childhood.

Maybe I’d repressed it because despite Rocky’s amazing performances my brother would routinely beat me with Daryle Lamonica passing for about 15 touchdowns a game.

But the legend of Rocky resurfaced in 2005, in the press box at Ford Field in Detroit. I was there because the University of Hawaii football team was at Michigan State the day before (Colt Brennan’s first start). Since the Packers were in town to play the Lions, I could interview two starters with Hawaii ties: Green Bay’s Adrian Klemm and Detroit’s Dominic Raiola.

As I watched and wondered how to write a story focusing on two offensive linemen in a 17-3 game, a gentleman in his 60s noticed I was from Hawaii, tapped me on the shoulder and smiled.

“How’s Rocky doing?”

I had no idea who he was talking about. “Rocky?”

He kept smiling. “Rocky Freitas. You must know Rocky Freitas!”

Then it all flooded back. “Oh, yeah, Rockne, I mean, Rocky!”

He went on to tell me how beloved Freitas still was in Detroit, even though it had been 28 years since his 10 seasons with the Lions ended in 1977. He remembered him as one of the most reliable Lions ever; the real records bear that out, since Freitas didn’t miss a start in eight years, a total of 112 games.

Freitas, who was twice second-team All Pro, is No. 77 on a list of the franchise’s top 100 all-time players, as ranked by the Detroit Free Press in 2019.

I had just met this man so I didn’t tell him about Rocky, my mythical running back. I told him about how Rockne Freitas was a positive force back home, a role model for Native Hawaiians as a community leader and educator who had earned a doctorate.

Whenever a sports figure dies, we lose some of our past.

With Freitas’ passing, we might have also lost some of our future.

Retired Star-Bulletin and Star-Advertiser sportswriter Cindy Luis knew him well. She reminded me about his visionary ideas of expanding college sports in Hawaii.

Maybe we will have junior college sports here eventually, but that day would have come sooner if Freitas had more time to work on the blueprint.

Same with a sports program at West Oahu, where he was chancellor.

It would have started with basketball, volleyball, and other relatively inexpensive sports, perhaps competing in the PacWest. Division II sports here haven’t been the same since Brigham Young-Hawaii closed up shop a few years ago.

Hopefully the Pueo, which Cindy said was Rockne’s choice for a mascot, will still become reality at West Oahu.

If you’re going to dream, you might as well dream big, right? I’ve been told by more than one person that Freitas also envisioned a football program at West Oahu — an idea I also really like.

It’s crazy or impossible to those who only look at why they think things can’t be done. It’s easy to point at the challenges that Hawaii has supporting just one college team and say no way.

But there are lots of positives, one being the vast number of talented football players coming out of Hawaii high schools every year who don’t get scholarship offers from Manoa and would prefer to — or, in some cases, must — remain home for various reasons.

The Rainbow Warriors and Pueo would become instant rivals, with instant sellouts, whatever size the stadium.

Uniform color for West Oahu teams? That one’s easy … Honolulu Blue, official hue of the Detroit Lions.